There is a great deal of difference between Made-To-Measure and a bespoke suit. Not many people can tell this difference. To put it simply, Made-To-Measure is the meeting point between buying Off-The-Rack and Bespoke. Below, ADEDOYIN JOHNSON shares some of them.

Pattern Making
Pattern making is essential in suit making. For Made-To-Measure suit, new patterns are not made to suit individual body type. For instance, a tailor cuts patterns for a size 42 jacket, a Made-To-Measure company will take these patterns, modify them if the client’s measurements are outside the range of what the 42 jackets are designed to be. The house cutter can modify the patterns to accommodate the client’s body shape differences such as jacket length and shoulder width.

For bespoke, a new pattern is created for each wearer. This is what makes it bespoke because it is spoken for by the customer. No modification or use of existing base patterns, like that, could lead the tailor to miss some of the small details of the wearer’s body; for example, the slope of the shoulder, the arch of the back among others.

Multiple Fittings
Multiple fittings for Made-To-Measure are limited. During the creation process, an initial fitting to take measurements and draft design is required. Then, there will be a final fitting after the suit is fully created. At times, the measurement accuracy and customer’s preference will determine if there will be alterations to the final product. It can be called the final fitting.

Making a bespoke fit requires multiple fittings during the creation of the garment. This is what makes bespoke different from Made-To-Measure. This is what makes bespoke premium. The first step is the skeleton baste fitting, second the forward fitting, third the fin bar fin fitting, all being done at different stages of tailoring. Some bespoke tailors do five or more mid-fittings. These fittings are to verify if the original measurements were accurate in the beginning.

Fabric Selection
Fabric selection is equally important for Made-To-Measure suit. There is usually a curated selection of fabric to choose from, from 1-2 mills or more depending on the shop making the suit. However, the variety of fabric offered by bespoke shops is far more than that of Made-To-Measure. Most bespoke shops have a selection of 10 or more mills. They usually call it a library of fabric.

Design Customisation
For Made-To-Measure, options for design customization are limited. But for bespoke, there are no limits no matter how complex the design is.

The list of options may include but not limited to: number of buttons on the jacket, pocket style, vent options, pant pleats, cuffs. Sometimes available: interior lining, lapel width, button-stance, gorge height.

One-on-One Meeting With Tailor

For Made-To-Measure clients usually meet with a store attendant or a sales associate who is trained to take measurements and give them to the master tailor or production manager. When it comes to bespoke tailoring, the client meets directly with the person making the garment. This will make the person cutting the garment and doing the needlework have more context to meet the specific needs and varying body shapes of the client.