Made to Measure Vs. Bespoke - A Hand Tailored Suit

Made to Measure Vs. Bespoke

 

When it comes to suiting nothing beats custom made, but with marketing gurus and business throwing the word bespoke around like its the new black, what exactly is bespoke and are you getting what you pay for?

The history behind suiting is rather straight forward, The Golden Mile of Tailoring. Savile Row, in Mayfair, London, was built between 1731 and 1735 and was named after Lady Dorothy Savile, the wife of the 3rdEarl of Burlington. In fact, it was Savile Row tailors that coined the term; ”bespoke”, when they described cloth as being “spoken for” by an individual customer. The term bespoke nowadays is used more to describe something hand made.

Bespoke clothing is traditionally cut from a pattern drafted from scratch for the customer, so from ready-to-wear it's worlds apart, Ready to wear is factory made in finished condition and standardised sizes, and from made to measure, which is produced to order from an adjusted block pattern. The opposition of terms did not initially imply that a bespoke garment was necessarily well built, but since the development of ready-to-wear in the beginning of the twentieth century, bespoke clothing is now more luxurious and is generally accompanied by a high quality of construction.

While the distinction conferred by haute couture is protected by law in France, the British Advertising Standards Authority has ruled it is a fair practice to use the term "bespoke" for products that do not fully incorporate traditional construction methods. The Savile Row Bespoke Association, a trade group of traditional tailors, disagree.

 

So the main difference is Made to measure is cut from an adjustable block to get the closest fit to the client.
The closest fit is simply not good enough for us at A Hand Tailored Suit, the perfect fit is what we are satisfied with.
We bring you the quality and tradition from Savile Row without the price tag that comes with the name.

With some of the finest cloth in the world available from Italian wool, Irish tweed and linen, to loro piano cashmere, to fox brother cloth, a merchant that dressed Winston Churchill and invented cricket whites.
We are true bespoke to the origin of the masters of Savile Row.
The closest is not close enough.
We ensure the perfect fit, custom made to your exact measurements and dimensions, no matter your shape or size. 

But what's the difference.
Between  bespoke and ready-to-wear, there has existed since the end of the 19th century "grey area of garments for which the customer was measured, but that were then made up to the closest standard size, often, but by no means always, in a factory." The distinction made here is between bespoke, created without use of a pre-existing pattern, and made to measure, which alters a standard-sized pattern to fit the customer. Technological change makes this distinction more subtle, since fittings are increasingly required for made-to-measure. A bespoke service may require an individually-cut pattern, which is then kept should further suits be required. Even hand-work, often cited as a benchmark of bespoke, is now increasingly found in made-to-measure garments, while machine-making plays some part in the creation of most bespoke suits. With a bespoke suit, a pattern is made from scratch based on the client's measurements, often from 30+ measurements. This ensures a precise fit, particularly in the shoulders as well as the posture areas. This custom fit is handy for clients with short or long necks, high or low shoulders, excess girth, high hips, large or flat seats, and more. Made-to-measure cannot adjust for these shapes and slopes.
We take three photos to ensure the pattern is created perfectly for each client, looking at shoulder shape, back angle, and seat shape and size, also looking at arm pitch to ensure the suit is made perfect each and every time.

 

So the main difference is Made to measure is cut from an adjustable block to get the closest fit to the client.
The closest fit is simply not good enough for us at A Hand Tailored Suit, the perfect fit is what we are satisfied with.
We bring you the quality and tradition from Savile Row without the price tag that comes with the name.

With some of the finest cloth in the world available from Italian wool, Irish tweed and linen, to loro piana cashmere, to fox brother cloth, a merchant that dressed Winston Churchill and invented cricket whites.
We are true bespoke to the origin of the masters of Savile Row.
The closest is not close enough.
We ensure the perfect fit, custom made to your exact measurements and dimensions, no matter your shape or size.

A Hand Tailored Suit, the tailoring company offering you a slice of London’s Savile Row for a cut of the cost. Bespoke custom clothing for Men, Women & Children, we offer only the finest of cloth from only the finest of cloth merchants from around the world. Call us on 01 513 6665 / 0044 121 368 1052 or click here to contact us. Click here for reference details of the images used in this blog post.