• Metro Custom Dyeing

  306 W. 38th St., nr. Eighth Ave., seventh fl.; 212-391-1001; metrodyeing.com

  When the people at Marc Jacobs, Oscar de la Renta, and Proenza Schouler need a piece specially tinted hours before a runway show, they go�very quickly�to Metro Custom Dyeing. Jaret Vasallo has the eye-catching job title of head dyer and can immediately tell whether a garment will absorb or resist color. People have trusted him with everything from wedding gowns ($75) to their favorite jeans ($50). He’ll turn away �questionable� pieces like a dress with delicate sequins or a ski jacket with seven different fibers, but once he commits, he’ll stay with your precious shmatte from start to finish, gently hand-agitating it in water, salt, vinegar, and powdered dye until it gets to just that soft blue or radical fuchsia you were hoping for.

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