The Complete Guide To Made To Measure Suits

The bespoke suit is often proclaimed as the greatest possible exemplar of the art of tailoring. And, coming with it, a hefty price tag. But the alternative is not just to make do with ready-to-wear. There’s a middle ground: the made-to-measure suit. This allows a suit to fit you better, and for a degree of customisation – just not on the scale of full bespoke.

Of course, you may have one of those rare mannequin-shaped bodies that allows ready-to-wear to fit just fine. But, for everyone else, the more manageable investment in made-to-measure could be well worth it.

What Is A Made-To-Measure Suit?

“In short, made-to-measure offers the quickest and most efficient way to have a beautifully fitting suit made to your own specifications. Personal style meets efficiency with made-to-measure,” explains Toby Lamb, brand director at Richard James. It’s a blunt, simple definition because, in truth, made-to-measure is a term that is widely interpreted.

Richard James

Today’s made-to-measure suit may show more signs of being finished by hand – traditionally a sign of bespoke tailoring – but, by the same token, elements of bespoke tailoring, such as the main seam in the seat of a pair of trousers, are likely to be machine-finished. Lines, in other words, are blurred. Add in a lot of marketing – ‘personal tailoring’, ‘customisable suiting’, ‘custom made’ – and the fact that tailoring houses are quick to dismiss the efforts of other tailoring houses as being ‘real’ made-to-measure and the waters are muddied further.

“Unfortunately some companies deliberately distort understanding to meet their marketing requirements,” argues Tony Lutwyche, of Lutwyche. “Admittedly it’s difficult to draw hard lines along the ready-to-wear, made-to-measure, bespoke continuum. It really comes down to a matter of authenticity. As much as anything it’s about the quality of experience.”

Perhaps made-to-measure is best understood in contrast to ready-to-wear and bespoke. With ready-to-wear, you wear the suit as it comes off the hanger (aside from minor alterations, the likes of leg and sleeve length). At the other extreme, a bespoke suit is made for an individual entirely from scratch – every aspect is chosen by the customer and made explicitly for him or her. In between lies made-to-measure.

Gieves & Hawkes

“One analogy has it that, if bespoke is going to the Porsche factory to have absolutely everything exactly as you want it, then made to measure is buying a Porsche and then having its interior outfitted to your liking,” says Gieves & Hawkes’ made-to-measure consultant Thomas Blatch. “With bespoke everything is done from new. With made-to-measure, we work with a base suit and then adjust it to fit better, and to the client’s liking.”

In other words, made-to-measure allows, for example, a choice of cloth, a choice of details and an excellent fit – but not a choice of all cloths, a choice of all possible details and the perfect fit, which is the realm of bespoke.

The Made-To-Measure Suit Process

The made-to-measure process is not unlike that for bespoke – it’s just less particular. It all begins with a consultation with your tailor of choice – so the first thing to do is shop around, and find an establishment you feel comfortable with, and whose services work for your budget. The cost of made-to-measure varies wildly, from a few hundred pounds to several thousand.

The consultation process is straightforward, though does entail making many decisions. So it pays to do some research ahead of the visit to your tailor – Pinterest might prove a good source to work up a mood board of the kind of suit you’d like.

Huntsman

Your tailor is there to help too, offering advice based around his or her taste, or that of the tailoring house, and they all prefer to gently push a house style. Is your made-to-measure suit for everyday wear or for cocktail attire for example? Will you be wearing it through cold weather, as a summer suit or both? This might affect your choice of colour, fabric and extra details.

Fabric

Choosing your cloth is the first step and you choose typically from a huge selection – well over a thousand. This choice is a matter of weight – lightweight (typically 8oz-9oz), heavyweight (14oz-15oz), or something in between. A 12oz cloth is a good all-year-rounder.

It’s also, of course, a matter of colour and pattern – check, birdseye, pinstripe and so on. The cloth is one of the key factors affecting the final price of your suit. Next – at those tailors that offer a choice – you will need to select the level of construction you require, from half-lined to fully-canvassed, with some tailors offering more or less hand-making for your garment.

“It’s really the quality of construction that affects the final price,” explains Lutwyche. “Generally, without guarantees, the more you spend the better quality of construction you get.”

Measurements

Next the process gets more intimate. Your tailor will take several measurements – chest, waist, seat and perhaps several more (though not as many as is required to make a bespoke suit). Then you will try on a suit of your preferred construction. This provides a template your tailor can work with – and he will start to pin it to shape a suit that better fits you, one that compensates for the unique characteristics of your body.

Gieves & Hawkes

This is not an altogether comfortable part of the process. A good tailor will likely spend several minutes just looking at you: assessing your build, posture and symmetry, or more usually, the lack of it. Most men, for instance, have one shoulder slightly higher than the other. Allowances will then be built into your suit where possible.

More pleasurably, this process also starts to make for a suit that is to your liking. Perhaps you like high waisted trousers, or a sharply tapered trouser leg. This is where such preferences are accounted for.

The Details

The final part of the consultation process – which is likely to take at least an hour and will need to be booked in advance – is where you choose all the extra details that make the suit right for you. Options range from lapel style; number of buttons in the fastening; belt loops, side adjusters or brace buttons; cuffs or plain finish; type of pockets; pocket flaps or none; and so on.

“If you want something very particular – a hidden pocket, for example – you’ll need to go bespoke,” warns Blatch. “There are limits as to what can be altered for made-to-measure too, but the parameters in which we can work allows for most things. When it comes to it, made-to-measure really does suit most men’s needs.”

Reiss

Once these are all decided on, your part in this process is more or less done. You will most likely be asked to pay a deposit and then you’ll be leaving matters to the people who will actually make your suit. This is not an overnight process – so plan well in advance if you need the suit for a specific date. To make your suit might take anywhere between a month and three months, depending both on the tailor and their workload at that time.

However, some weeks later you will be asked in for another fitting for final adjustments (you may well put on or lose an inch in your waist over this time frame, for example) and to decide on sleeve and leg length, which might be determined by the type of shoes you’re likely to wear with your suit, so if possible take these along.

You need to be available for this fitting – your suit will not be finished until you undergo this fitting, which should last not much more than 15 minutes. Once this is done – final payment is likely due then too – your suit can be finished, which might take another two weeks.

Is Made-To-Measure Worth It?

“The reality is that more and more of the things we buy are customisable in some way – and that’s what people want, to be able to have some input, to make it their own,” argues Alex McCard, senior menswear buyer for Reiss. “The whole idea of made-to-measure is that the customer becomes the designer.”

Is made-to-measure’s investment of time and money worth it? It’s certainly a faster option. “Bespoke offers a totally unique product, but you’re talking about some 60 man hours and eight to 12 weeks,” notes Lamb. “So bespoke is an investment in more ways than one.”

Reiss

If you’re a less-than-textbook shape – if you’re particularly tall, or broad, muscular but short, have loping shoulders or one hip higher than the other, for example – made-to-measure will save you from the trials and endless try-ons of finding a ready-to-wear suit that fits you passably well.

Yes, the basic shape of the jacket your made-to-measure suit is based on is a standard one, based on the proportions of Mr. Average. But the fit of much made-to-measure suiting is still so good that in many cases it would take an expert eye to distinguish it from bespoke. Some tailors will – as with bespoke – build in some excess cloth to allow the suit to be re-tailored to fit you again should you put on some pounds in years to come.

Hackett

Ready-to-wear is, of course, also subject to the fluctuations and fancies of fashion – you may find a fit and style of off-the-peg suit that works well for you one season, but then find it’s no longer available the next. Going with made-to-measure allows you to have what you want regardless of what the fashion market wants to sell you.

But, be warned. Made-to-measure is typically made to a standard greater than ready-to-wear, and so should provide longer service. “But sometimes, depending on your configuration, depending on how personalised a suit you want, you’d be better off with a well-made ready-to-wear suit than a badly made made-to-measure one,” notes Lutwyche.

Common Made-To-Measure Dos And Don’ts

Do…

Aim to have a beautiful suit: as with bespoke, the more you do to a made-to-measure suit – and because the options are there, the temptation is to do it all – the less special it can look.

Have an idea of what you want your suit to look like – do some research to avoid all those choices proving overwhelming; have something to show your tailor.

Keep in mind what you want the suit for – a suit that needs to be worn most days to the office is a very different animal to one that might only be worn once, for a summer wedding. That said, you still might want to make choices that will allow you to get value out of your suit after your wedding day.

Be aware of being railroaded by tailors into having something they want you to have, rather than what you really want. Fashion brands increasingly offer made-to-measure suits – though keep in mind that they will inevitably be providing a more fashion-forward style of suit.

Make sure you pick a style of suit and a cloth for it that doesn’t quickly date, since a made-to-measure suit should last you a long time.

Make sure you feel comfortable in whichever tailoring house you use – if you don’t feel comfortable, go somewhere else.

Don’t…

Assume that because a tailor is not based on Savile Row – or some equally ‘expensive’ street – that it isn’t any good. A better deal and great expertise might be found with a local tailor, for example.

Worry too much about increased costs, if you can. It will increase your bill but, if you intend to wear your made-to-measure suit a lot, it’s a smart move to have a second pair of trousers made – as it’s trousers that are likely to wear out fastest.

Be intimidated because you are new to made-to-measure: most tailors find it a pleasure to work with such people because they really take care over their choices.

Forget that once your details and preferences are held on file by your tailor, the process of having a second made-to-measure suit made by them will be considerably smoother – if you need it to be.

Where To Buy A Made-To-Measure Suit

Gieves & Hawkes

The company offers three basic constructions to choose from, and over 2000 cloths; delivery from first consultation takes around 10 weeks. Gieves & Hawkes is known for its distinct, military-inspired silhouette complete with strong roped shoulders and a nipped in waist, as well as it’s outstanding construction. Prices vary from £1200 to £4000.