A Comprehensive Guide to Buying A Bespoke Suit
by Dan Trepanier, The Style Blogger
Jun. 1, 2012
“Custom” can mean anything. Choosing a colored lining and fancy button gives a suit maker the right to call it “custom”, just like a pair of Nike sneakers designed online in your own colorway.
“Made-to-Measure” shops make a limited number of symmetrical adjustments (+/- in girth(s) and length(s)) to a pre-existing pattern. They will typically not make any adjustments for your shoulder slope, posture, are any asymmetrical irregularities in your body.
“Bespoke” refers to the process of creating a unique, original pattern specific to a clients body structure. Traditionalists will say that in order for a suit to be labeled “bespoke” it should be measured, cut and fit all by one master tailor, but very few shops function profitably in this manner anymore.