Tailor-made for this town

Lolita Harper

The holidays are a busy time at Bud’s Custom Tailor in Costa Mesa.

A button has popped off, a skirt needs a last-minute hem or a

tuxedo just doesn’t fit as well as it did for the last New Year’s Eve

party.

All patrons are equally frantic and all projects are equally

important to tailor Anibal de la Cruz, who took over the

36-year-business last year after his father’s untimely passing.

“My dad could never say no to anybody,” de la Cruz said. “He has

people spoiled. We can do it, though. I just like teasing people.”

And so, the 26-year-old works diligently to fill the last-minute

orders, hem the routine pant leg, repair a small hole and take in an

inch for a successful dieter. Each of his stitches does more than

mend fabric, it holds together a family business that was frayed by a

sudden death.

Rafael de la Cruz started Bud’s Custom Tailor in 1966 in a back

alley storefront off 17th Street in Costa Mesa. A master of design

and custom suit making, Rafael de la Cruz left his position at a

Beverly Hills store and opened his own businesses in the budding

coastal community. He specialized in custom-made suits, making each

inch of cloth fit its wearer perfectly.

Back then, men had to come to a tailor to get precision-fit suits,

and Rafael de la Cruz quickly became a trusted expert in the area,

his son said.

“He knew everything,” Anibal de la Cruz said. “You don’t find

people like that any more.”

As the years went by, mass production of men’s suits became more

popular, and demand for the craftsman talents of Rafael de la Cruz

became less. He was still regarded as one of the best tailors in

town, and the business changed to fit the times.

Anibal de la Cruz would help his parents, who worked relentless

hours in the shop, and quickly learned his father’s trade. But he had

had no intention of following in his father’s footsteps until last

year.

Rafael de la Cruz suffered a massive heart attack at the age of

55, and the fate of a 35-year-old Costa Mesa mainstay lay in the

hands of his only child.

“It’s not something I wanted to do, but I wanted to keep the

business in the family,” said Anibal de la Cruz, 26, who left the

real estate business to preserve his father’s legacy.

His father’s dedicated staff -- with some employees well past

their 20-year mark -- and a loyal customer base convinced Anibal to

keep the business. Besides, business is good, he said.

“It has been tough because it is a huge responsibility,” Anibal de

la Cruz said. “I am not used to running the place. I’m used to being

in the back or helping after dark.”

Three short months after inheriting the business, Anibal de la

Cruz faced another crisis, as rents at what is now called the 17th

Street Promenade nearly doubled, making it even more difficult for

the modest family business to survive. Anibal de la Cruz moved the

tailoring business from its hidden storefront to a tiny corner retail

space on Irvine Avenue just south of 17th Street on the edge of Costa

Mesa and Newport Beach, and somehow the customers followed.

“We didn’t do any direct mailings or advertising, but people found

us,” Anibal de la Cruz said. “We lost a few but all of our regulars

are still with us and we picked up some great new customers over

here.”

Longtime customer Megan Harris said she wouldn’t go anywhere else.

“His dad altered all of my prom dresses,” the Newport Harbor High

School graduate said.

Harris drives from her home in Irvine for the custom tailoring

that she grew up with. Khakis, jeans and drawstring pants are carted

in for expert modifications. Standing at a modest 5 foot 3 inches,

Harris says she brings all her new clothes to Anibal de la Cruz

because of her family’s 12-year relationship with his father.

“We moved, but we still come down here,” she said.

And the tradition continues. Bud’s Custom Tailor shop has already

altered a dress for 11-month-old Abigail Harris, she said. Perhaps

Anibal de la Cruz will have another customer for life.

It is regular patrons such as Harris that keep the business

thriving and the de la Cruz family happy to serve the Newport-Mesa

area. Matriarch Elvira de la Cruz, who helped her husband open the

original shop on 17th Street, said the store has a wonderful

clientele.

“Business is good, the customers are good, and the atmosphere is

comfortable,” she said in Spanish.

Elvira de la Cruz worked alongside her husband in the early years,

until she became ill. Her health prevented her from bending over

sewing machines, threading countless needles and stitching

repetitively. With the passing of her husband, she has returned to

the daily rigors of the alterations business.

“I am in here everyday, Monday through Sunday, working on little

repairs,” she said, holding up a delicate, sheer sweater as proof of

her diligence. Her work is flawless, as she has to point twice to

where the hole was.

She had a three-year vacation from the shop, as she watched her

husband and his dedicated crew build the business into what it is

now. Elvira de la Cruz said she is more than happy to help keep her

late husband’s dream alive.

Anibal de la Cruz agreed, saying it is a labor of love, but still

a task he admits he needs some help with. With time, he will become

more comfortable as a small business man, and he hopes he will find

the same type of dedicated employees his father did so the shop will

continue to prosper.

“My dad loved this place, so he could stay here all day and all

night,” Anibal de la Cruz said. “But I need help.”