Why You Should Start Buying Custom Made Suits

If you’re like many men, the idea of having a tailor strikes you as some hoity-toity fantasy where you’re a movie star or a high-priced lawyer. After all, why do you need a custom-tailored suit if you’re just a regular guy? And how can you possibly hope to afford it?

Well, it turns out that there are quite a few myths out there when it comes to custom-made suits, and there are some truly good practical reasons why you should think about getting one – or several!

Myth: It’s really inconvenient to go to a tailor.
Truth: What’s inconvenient is going to 20 different stores.

Going to a tailor, getting measured, and waiting for them to make your suit sounds like the height of inconvenience, but think about what you would do otherwise. Off-the-rack suits are all in generic sizes, so chances are good that you would end up trying on a lot of them and probably even driving around to different stores before you find something that seems acceptable – not even great; just acceptable. That kind of shopping takes a lot of time and gas, and all it really gives you in return is frustration. Having a tailor make you a suit may not allow you to walk out of the store with it that day, but the actual time you spend shopping is often much less.

Myth: The level of quality is about the same.
Truth: Custom-made clothing really is made better.

It’s not that off-the-rack suits are the equivalent of plastic bags and custom-made suits are recyclable canvas, but there is definitely a difference in the level of quality between the two. Part of that comes from the fact that off-the-rack suits are put together by machines on an assembly line, whereas each custom-made suit will be overseen by a real live person. There’s just an attention-to-detail there that can’t be matched. Also, when you’re having something custom-made, you can choose the fabric that’s going to be used. Even lower-end fabric offered by tailors tends to be better than what’s offered in off-the-rack clothes, and you can pick material that’s truly amazing.

And then there are things like canvas. What’s canvas? Typically made from cotton and horsehair, it’s a separate material that runs throughout the interior of every custom-made suit. Essentially, the canvas serves as the “bones” of your suit, and it serves to give it both shape and solidity, as well as helping mold it to your body. Canvas can even prevent bubbles from forming in the fabric and help to keep your suit wrinkle-free! In contrast, many off-the-rack models simply hang limp.

Myth: Off-the-rack fits just fine.
Truth: That’s because you’ve never tried a custom-fit suit.

For a tailor, “just fine” is a failure. When you get a custom-fit suit, you’re buying a piece of clothing that will feel like a second skin – only better. Tailored suits not only fit perfectly to the particular contours of your body, they also accentuate your best features while masking the ones that you’d prefer to keep hidden. They can do this because someone designed the suit specifically for your body. You’ll never be able to get that with an off-the-rack suit, and anyone who says otherwise is just flat-out lying.

Myth: Tailor-made suits cost an arm and a leg.
Truth: Many people go to tailors to spend less.

Let’s be completely blunt: no tailor is going to be able to provide you a custom-made suit that’s less than the lowest off-the-rack prices you can find. There’s a reason big businesses use assembly lines, and someone who’s personalizing every suit can’t match that. At the same time, tailors are quite affordable when you start to look at the big picture. First off, it comes back to convenience. Your time is valuable, and if you can go to one tailor with your measurements and get a great suit out of it, chances are good that you’ll save a lot of time over trying to find an off-the-rack suit that works. Additionally, tailored suits tend to last longer and take more wear and tear, which means you should have to replace them less. And sometimes, tailors can replicate looks on popular (read: expensive) brands for far less than what you’d pay just to get a particular name on the label.

Myth: Tailors just charge more for the same thing.
Truth: Custom-made suits can be personalized in any number of ways.

Try to buy an off-the-rack suit and you’re going to be limited to a few specific styles that are currently popular. Tailor-made suits offer unlimited personalization. All you have to do is tell your tailor what you’d like to do and they’ll let you know the cost and time involved.

If you don’t want to believe what I’ve written above, simply find a man who owns a custom suit and ask him what he thinks. You’ll find out that once you go custom, it’s hard to return back to the rack.

Difference between Made to Measure and Bespoke

 We continue to deepen your sartorial education with the next inevitable step in every man’s suit wearing cycle- the art of the bespoke.

There’s nothing wrong with off the rack. Don’t get me wrong, the best men's luxury suit brands like Zegna and Canali make great made to measure suits and bespoke suits and while to average Joe's there’s very little distinction between the two, any gentleman worth his salt should take the time to understand the subtle differences (if only to impress your fair lady).

Difference between Made to Measure and Bespoke

You often achieve higher margins through economies of scale. Made to measure refers to clothing that is prepared from a standard-size garment that is then tailored to suit your needs. While the fit of a made to measure suit is superior from one that you could just grab from off the rack, it still lacks the panache and the lux factor of a bespoke suit.

By definition, a bespoke suit is made based on a gentleman’s exacting specifications entirely from scratch. I’d use this simple analogy- When you go to McDonald’s and ask for a Big Mac without thousand island dressing and heavy on the lettuce- that’s made to measure. A custom burger with your specifications but you couldn’t ask for burger buns without sesame seeds.

A bespoke Big Mac however would by definition, not be a Big Mac. It would be “Your Mac”. Your mac would come with a hand made patty and not the generic ones used in all of McDonald’s burgers. The burger bun would be made without the sesame seeds, every detail fits your specifications.

In general, made-to-measure will always be more expensive than ready-to-wear but cheaper than a bespoke.

Practical Advantages Of Custom Made Suits verses off the rack     

Yes, in the bigger picture we can all agree that there are advantages of buying custom made suits. From a logical and common sense angle, that’s pretty obvious. However, when you look further into custom made, or Bespoke, clothing you get to see some things that didn't readily come to mind.
By now, you know that details separate a decent, off-the-rack look from a detailed, impeccable look. Before we quickly delve into the advantages of the custom suit, let’s briefly re-visit the difference between the two in detail.
Custom vs. Off-the-Rack
It’s pretty simple really. To start, don’t just keep your mind on price. You just might be surprised by what you find if you took a moment and looked around. Anyway, off-the-rack suits mean just that. You go into the retailer, pull off a suit from the rack and hope to find a size that … fits the closest possible. But …
The jacket shoulders could be too wide / too narrow
Jacket length could hang too low / not low enough for proper fit
Sleeves could not be at proper length
Improper pant length
Too much fabric on either piece (jacket or pants) and gives you a bulky look, (not defining proper shape and silhouette) - definitely not in style today!
With Custom made suits you get something extremely different.
You get fitted and end up with your exact measurements
You’re provided a vast array of personal options that make all the difference (remember? Details!)
Your choice of collars, cuffs, lapels, pleated or flat-front pants, colors, etc.
Your choice of fabrics
You get the idea of the two worlds now.
Practical Considerations
When you go for off-the-rack, you might think you’re saving money, (or time). But taking the following considerations, or realities into account, you’ll definitely see things in a much different light.
You’ll invariably need to give it right back for alterations. – Another week(s) + more money = double inconvenience!
Not all retailers will have in-house people to do alterations
Not all people doing the alterations at the retailers will be highly skilled. – More time waiting for corrections
Not everything will be able to be changed — Example: Jacket needs to be raised, but can’t due to bottom alignment of pockets. (And that’s just one example)
Now for some of the many practical adv

antages of Custom suits.
As noted above, exact measurements for proper fit
The fit is specifically tailored to you. This provides for that definitive element of shape & silhouette.
You get to have an array of choices in specifics with fabrics, colors, linings, cuffs, collars, pockets, etc.
Once all the specs and numbers are recorded, it will take some weeks to get the finished product; however, the sum total of it all is a perfectly fitting suit by highly skilled craftsmen and getting it all correct the first time.
Expense - when you look around you’ll find custom suit shops that start at or lower than what you’ll buy at retailers. Hard to believe, but I’ve looked around and have done the comparison.

Quality - You get not only quality fabrics, but quality workmanship and a much higher quality suit over-all. 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Q-The-Tailor-Bespoke-Clothiers

How we got standerized clothing measurements

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   In the early 1860s, the style of menswear began to change from close fitting, custom tailored clothes to more loose fitting, ready-to-wear clothes. New technology allowed manufacturers to mass produce large quantities of standardized clothing, and a shift in the social stigma of ready-to-wear clothing helped turn the tides toward more mass-produced clothing. The real turning point in the history of mass-produced clothing, however, came with the American Civil War. When the war began, most clothing, including soldier’s uniforms, was still custom-made in homes or small factories. As the war progressed and the demands for uniforms increased, manufacturers expanded their operations to larger factories in an effort to efficiently meet the growing demand for uniforms. Along with the expansion of factories, manufacturers realized that using individual measurements to produce uniforms was timely and costly, and they would be able to produce more uniforms if they could use standardized sizes.

Before manufacturers could begin mass-producing clothing according to standard sizes, they had to study and evaluate the measurements of soldiers to find general sizing trends to use as guidelines for their sizing system. Their evaluations revealed certain sets of measurements that reoccurred on a regular basis. These reoccurring measurements were used to mass-produce ready-to-wear uniforms in a few general sizes, which were then shipped off to soldiers. When the Civil War ended, the measurements used to mass-produce soldier’s uniforms carried over to the general public market and were used to create a commercial sizing system for men’s clothing.

Return of Business DressThere’s little doubt that men are making business dress a priority. Surveys of business trends are indicating that the casual dress movement has been a failed experiment. Confusion, frustration, careless work habits, manners and thinking, not to mention a poor impression on customers – this is what has become of the casual dress movement.
A survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (New York Times June 13, 2001) found that “companies that allow casual attire fell to 87% from 95% in 1999.  By then, signs of misgivings about the trend had already appeared.”
In another survey last year by Jackson Lewis, an unemployment law firm, 45% of responding executives thought relaxed standards of dress promoted tardiness and absenteeism. Even politics have entered the fray, with George Bush’s directive of a conservative dress code for members of his administration.
Business once again seems to require professional dress, grooming, and manners. According to the NPD Group, a market research firm (also mentioned in the New York Times article), men’s dress shirt sales have been increasing steadily over the past several years.
According to custom tailors across the country, today’s men want comfort without sacrificing elegance and personality. More and more, men are turning to lightweight, softly constructed suits and sport coats in luxury fabrics such as cashmere, silk blends, and super merino woolens as lighter-weight versions of more traditional cloths.

Men’s Q&A: How to Buy a Bespoke Suit

Men’s Q&A: How to Buy a Bespoke Suit

Q: I want to purchase a bespoke suit. I’ve never purchased one before. What should I look out for? I’m willing to pay a huge premium, but only if I will definitely get my money’s worth.
by John Liu
A: One time I was at a fancy restaurant in San Francisco. It was the kind of place where you have to wear a jacket to get in, and if you show up without one, they give you one from their closet. I sat down and looked at the menu, which was pretty much completely inaccessible to anyone who’s not a Michelin-rated chef. Rather than try to decipher it, I asked the waiter as casually as I could, “So how is the steak?”
“Oh, it’s terrible,” he replied.
Now, he was being sarcastic, but I got the point: whatever I ordered, it was going to be great.
If you pick the right restaurant, you don’t have to know anything about food and can rest assured that you’ll get a good meal. Likewise, if you pick the right tailor, you don’t need to know anything about clothes, and you can rest assured that you’ll get a great suit.
Sure, I could give you a long laundry list of things to look out for. But if you’re going to the right place, I’m certain that the tailor will be doing these things anyways. My one piece of advice would be to know exactly what you want in terms of color, fabric, and style going in. The best tailors don’t give their input; rather, they simply do what you want them to do. Besides, the whole point of bespoke is to make a suit for exactly for you.
If you haven’t gone down the bespoke path before, you likely don’t have a good bespoke tailor you can trust. So do your homework. Search online for user reviews of tailors in your city. The bigger the city you live in, the pickier you can be, of course. When you find a tailor that gets consistently favorable reviews, go visit the tailor and ask to see his/her work. See if the tailor will let you talk to some of his/her customers and ask them about their experience.
Also, a “huge premium” can actually be really huge when talking about bespoke. The Kiton “K50,” aptly named because it takes approximately 50 hours to create, costs $30,000 to $50,000, and is made exclusively by Kiton’s chief tailor who personally measures and fits the client. If you already knew this and still are willing to pay this kind of premium, try Wilkes Bashford in San Francisco, which measures bespoke Kiton, or Kiton in New York. If you’re in London, check out Kilgour or any other fine tailor on Saville Row.
Finally, keep in mind that a true bespoke suit isn’t created overnight. A bespoke suit will take you a few visits to create. And a good bespoke tailor will allow you to wear the suit, get it cleaned a few times, and then go back for more tailoring for a perfect fit.
Style Tip 1: For more information on the bespoke process, and what you should expect to do (roughly) with each visit, be sure to read this discussion from Ask Andy About Clothes.
Style tip 2: If that answer didn’t satisfy you, here are five things to look out for:

1. If it is “bespoke,” it should mean that the tailor is the actual cutter of the fabric. Ask him to make sure he is.
2. The very best tailors also make their own garments. There aren’t too many of these tailors left, but if you find one, consider yourself lucky.
3. The use of a sewing machine should be very limited. Bespoke suits should be hand-made, for the most part. That means, literally, the tailor sews the vast majority of the suit by hand.
4. Make sure the canvas is hand-sewn or “floating.” If the answer is “no,” or the word “glue” is mentioned, run.
5. Labels don’t mean much in bespoke.

So how do you pick the best suit for you?

So how do you pick the best suit for you?

1. You need at least one fantastic suit in your wardrobe.

If you don’t have much money then probably the one item to make a large one off investment in is your jacket. Don’t feel shy spending at least $500 for a great suit – even more if you can afford it. Then substitute it with a couple more light-weight suits and jackets in the $200-$400 range to help mix things up.

2. Always make sure your suits and shirts fit well around the collar.

Don’t buy oversized collars, they come across as slack and lazy. And too tight, well, we all need to breathe now don’t we??

3. Match the suit to your lifestyle

Some men can easily mix patterns, suits, stripes, loud pocket kerchiefs, silky shiny materials, hats, tophats, and blinged up cufflinks. Some cannot!! It’s important to find the style that suits your personality, fits your career (bling in a conservative law firm certainly won’t go down that well!) and helps you ease forward in the game of life.

4. Accessorise!

Ties are the one accessory for men that can really be personalised and allow you to express yourself and add some color and diversity. Ties can be suited up or dressed down with jeans and a white shirt (open top button and loose knot). Wander into second stores to dig up some classic and vivid ties with vibe and spirit, and perhaps spend a bit more on some nice new (perhaps black or red) versatile ties.

5. Find the right fit for your body:

* If you’re a big guy:

Remember there’s more of you to love, so wear your bulk with pride. Wear lightweight, suits built from heavier textiles will only add weight. Soft, worsted wools are your best friend. Choose darker colors which give desired slimming factor plus they’re classy and classic. If you’re going to stripe it, make it a solid vertical to create a sleek, slender visual. The jacket: Two buttons are optimal – they won’t draw attention to your bulky frame and stay single on the vent, which will give you the extra room you need minus the extra attention.

* If you’re tall and lean

Add weight with heavier fabrics – on a tall, skinny guy, lightweight fabrics will hang and make you look all the more frail. Heavier wools like tweed or a heavier weight worsted wool that hold their form is the smart decision; and give you much-needed proportion and the appearance of additional weight. Colours – opt for the greys and classic browns – Lighter colors, will add weight to your overall look. Jacket? Three buttons create height and length, tall guys, with their longer torsos, can pull this look off successfully. Keep it classy with the single vent – Although taller, slimmer men tall, skinny men have two options for the vent: we advise that you stick with a single-vent or ventless jacket which is always the classier choice.

* If you’re slight and shorter than average

Avoid loud patterns – The print of an overly bold pattern screams for attention and will only draw attention to your slight frame. Subdued, chilled out colours and small stripes, if any, will be far more stylish for you. Stripes – For shorter men, the next best thing to a shoe with a higher sole is a suit with vertical stripes. As stripes run top to bottom, they tend to draw the eye upward. Plus, they also lengthen your frame by elongating the look of the suit; giving you the illusion of appearing taller than you really are. Go for double vents – Small guys, the double-vent jacket was created with you in mind. The dual slits (or vents) along the side emphasize the outside lines of the body; in doing so, they establish an attractive, longer silhouette that complements and lengthens your frame.
More about suits …

The Bespoke Suit:

These are custom made by a tailor from a pattern created entirely from the client’s measurements, giving the best-fit and free choice of fabric. Some of the most expensive suits in the world are painstakingly hand made by an increasingly scarce breed of extremely skilled tailors.

These tailors know how to make suits that hide physical flaws and highlight attributes, without sacrificing comfort. Machine use is minimal, and each and every nuance of a client’s spoken and unspoken needs are met and often exceeded. Brioni, Attolini, Kiton, Luigi Borelli and Caraceni are some of the best known names in Italian bespoke suits. Some of the world’s most expensive suits are the Kiton K50s exclusively tailored by Senor D’Orsi, one of the finest tailors in the world. He makes not more than 50 suits in a year, each costing up to 50,000 USD. The fabrics used on a bespoke suit are usually the best, mostly worsted wool for business suits. These fabrics are used in the counts of 80′s and 90′s, or super 100′s, super 150′s and higher. The counts in the range of 80′s and 90′s also feel great and usually last longer than higher counts made at even the best clothing manufacturers. For those who can afford it, a bespoke suit made in the super 150′s fabric can be an absolute asset. It feels fabulously comfortable to wear and looks even better.

Made-to-Measure Men’s Suits:

Not every one is privileged enough to get a bespoke suit made, but there is a range of suits which is nearly as good. With made-to-measure suits, (a preErmenegildo Zegna su Misura does some of the best fittings in the made-to-measure industry. A good deal of technology goes into the making of these suits and their fabrics. Some Zegna suits use fabrics like Micronsphere which has all the great qualities of a worsted but is also stain-resistant, or Cashco, which is a blend of cashmere and cotton, making it an all-weather fabric.

Off-the-peg Designer Men’s Suits:

Though these cost about half that of a good made-to-measure Italian suit, they are still worth the money. The first and foremost advantage is speed, no agonizing fittings and long waits for the suit to get ready, and if chosen carefully, an off-the-peg suit from Prada, Armani, Versace or Gucci fits quite well and is unbeatable for casual elegance and comfort. The trick is to shop around for the right size, cut and look. What is more, off-the-peg suits are good for those who are looking for variations and for different types of fabrics and styles. The beauty of an off-the-peg designer suit lies in its ability to change from season to season, and to bring in a hint of casual flair to the conservative world of men’s business clothing.

Ready to Wear:

These suits are mass produced, least expensive and most common. You’ll find them in department stores and they’re a good option for the budget conscious shopper. If you’re diligent in shopping carefully and following the tips above on getting the best fit for you, these suits may allow you to look suitably elegant in business attire and save your pocket at the same time.