Tailored Suits
A Suit Made Just For You
* made to your exact sizes.
* made in a cloth that suits your needs and budget.
* styled to suit your personality.
* designed to accentuate your best features.
* quality construction and materials that will last for many years.
* hand-made just for you.
Why Are Tailored Suits Better Than Off The Peg?
The term tailored suits is a somewhat vague one. It has different connotations depending on the brand and what you mean by it. Here’s a rundown of what makes tailored suits better than off the rack options. Essentially, it’s a combination of efficiency and personal style. Toby Lamb, brand director of Richard James, describes it as the most efficient way to have a suit made.
True Tailored Suits
Tailored suits are literally custom made for each customer, using a pattern that is unique to the individual. This pattern, usually on paper, is based on the client’s measurements and posture. It ensures the perfect fit while allowing for minor differences in weight and shape. A tailor will take as many as fifty measurements from a client before creating a pattern. During the consultation, the tailor will take measurements of the customer’s body shape, stance, and posture. The process will then be streamlined and personalised, allowing the tailor to create a custom suit for each client.
Tailored suits require more fittings than Ready To Wear. There will typically be at least three appointments, and sometimes up to five. These additional fittings are necessary to ensure accuracy and prevent costly mistakes. Usually, the first fitting takes place four to five weeks after the initial measuring. Tailored suits will cost more than off the rack suits, but a well-trained tailor will take your measurements carefully and provide you with the perfect fit.
Tailored Suits – Ideal For Odd Shapes
Tailored suits are also better for people with less-than-textbook body shapes. You may be tall, muscular, or have sloping shoulders. It could even be that you have one hip higher than the other. These clients tend to struggle to find suits that fit well. It is worth the extra going for a made to measure suit.
Tailored suits are great for those who prefer a more customised fit without spending thousands of pounds on bespoke.
The Perfect Suit
Custom tailored suits are made to your exact shape, size, and figuration. These suits are made of a variety of materials. Depending on the suit style, a tailor can make the suit in any style or material. The process typically involves an initial fitting and then several intermediate fittings, which are revisions to the original draft. Because tailoring is such a specialised craft, each piece is crafted to the customer’s specifications.
Timescales For Tailored Suits
A first tailored suit takes around six to eight weeks to make, but the time can be shorter or longer. There are many steps required to make your first made to measure suit. But once your pattern is finalised, each subsequent suit can be made to the same pattern and the whole process is much quicker. As short as three weeks in some cases.
What About Altering Ready To Wear?
While it is possible to find a suit with a general off the rack, you may want to get a suit made to fit perfectly. The length of the jacket and sleeve length can be altered in some brands, but only to a certain extent. You might want to have the sleeve length and pocket placement customised, but the other adjustments aren’t generally possible. It will be more expensive if you get a tailor to create a custom suit for you, but it will be worth the extra expense in the long run.
Off-the-rack suits can be very cheap or very expensive, depending on the brand and the materials used. Off-the-rack suits are usually pre-sized and are usually manufactured by machines. Only a small number of manufacturers still produce off the rack suits by hand. However, if you have a specific size in mind, you can often find an off-the-rack suit that fits you perfectly for less than £500.
Off-the-rack suits are mass-produced, pre-styled, and are usually made to conform to general sizing rules. Therefore, they may not fit perfectly. They often compromise on fit, style, and fabric. They also require you to spend a lot of time shopping, trying on scores of jackets and dealing with pushy salespeople. Alternatively, tailored suits are made for you specifically, so that you can get the right fit and style.
Tailored Suits Online
The process of ordering a custom-made suit is straightforward. You can view online videos that show you how to take your measurements, and ask a friend to do it for you. However, the devil is in the detail. The beauty and style of a tailored suit are in the way it fits. And to be frank, you are unlikely to get your measurements as accurate as a tailor would so the suit is unlikely to look as good as one from a tailor
Off-the-rack tailored suits come with a number of benefits, but the main one is the cost. Off-the-rack suits are surprisingly inexpensive when compared to bespoke suits. Often they are comparable in price to good quality off-the-rack suits. Off-the-rack suits will never fit perfectly, but if you plan on wearing your suit frequently, it is well worth the money investing in a tailor-made suit.
Purchasing a suit can be a daunting task for anyone, especially if it is your first time. The best choice for you may depend on your budget, time, and situation. Off-the-rack suits are the cheapest option, and they are typically mass-produced and made to generic measurements. While these suits are great for last-minute events, they aren’t ideal for those with more intricate preferences.
Off-the-rack suits are a good investment, but there are some important things to consider. A bad fit will detract from the overall appearance of your outfit, as well as your confidence. Even with the perfect fit, you may need to make some minor adjustments to make it fit correctly. For instance, you might have to have the hemline shortened, or you may have to alter the chest size. In addition, your new suit may not fit properly due to the improper fit.
The downside of off-the-rack suits is that the quality is lower than custom-made garments. Because the materials used for these suits are cheap, they are produced in large numbers, lowering their cost.
Your Made To Measure Suit
First, learn how to identify the sizing and fit terms that a tailor uses. Unlike a standard garment, a custom suit will be tailored to fit your unique body shape and features. This means your jacket will be perfectly fitted, down to the last detail of where buttons and pockets are placed. And the tailor will be able to account for your chest and shoulder width while making the garment. But if you’re considering the cost of a made to measure suit, make sure that the tailor takes into account these measurements in the making process.
Another benefit of tailored suits is the wide selection of fabrics. You can choose from literally thousands of cloth options. You’ll be quizzed on everything from the style to the small details, including the lining, the size of lapels, the design of buttons, and even the colour of the stitching. Many top-notch tailors will also allow you to personalise your suit with a monogram.
Made-to-measure suits are the most efficient way to have a suit made. This process balances efficiency and personal style. Richard James‘ brand director, Toby Lamb, says “The best thing about tailored suits is the price.”