Linen Suit

In the 17th Century, tailors kept full lengths of cloth for customers to choose from. Once a customer had chosen their length of material, it was deemed as having been spoken for. Suits that are made according to specific individual requirements are therefore bespoke suits. Unlike made to measure suits that follow a pre-existing pattern, the bespoke suit is made by taking numerous measurements. Material is cut from scratch to make the suit using the individual requirements, which make bespoke suits completely unique to each customer. This allows the buyer to have total control over how the garment is made.

The bespoke Savile Row suit is arguably the most famous of the bespoke suits today. Before the turn of the last century in Edwardian England, you would have had to be introduced to a tailor on Savile Row by a friend in order to receive service. This started to change with King Edward VII and his entourage. The Duke of Windsor introduced American clientele to Savile Row in 1936 in order to marry American, Mrs. Wallis Simpson. This brought loyal film stars such as Gary Cooper, Clark Gable and Cary Grant to Savile Row. Today, celebrities such as Sean Connery, Brian Ferry, Michael Caine, Charlie Watts, and Tom Cruise visit the exclusive tailors for the famous bespoke Savile Row suit.

Bespoke suits have a certain status about them that outshines even the more famous suit designers of ready-made suits. Bespoke suits carry with them more individual style for the people wearing them and are crafted using first class fabric. The care that goes into the measurement and figuration of a bespoke suit is unparalleled as bespoke suits are entirely custom designed and made by hand. The bespoke suit is generally more expensive than off-the-peg suits but is worth the extra investment.

Creating a bespoke suit is a time consuming, intricate process. For bespoke suits to be made, a tailor will take anywhere between 15 to 50 measurements of a customer’s body. The tailor will make a paper pattern and mark all of the details on it such as cuffs and button holes all according to the customer’s specifications. Many times, a tailor will make a sample suit from scrap material and after several weeks and multiple fittings, they will have a bespoke suit customized specific for that customer.

Bespoke suits are made to accommodate the individual person wearing it. For example, a larger person may need to buy a larger jacket off the rack to accommodate a larger midsection. Buying this jacket off the rack to accommodate the midsection many times results in being too long and having oversized shoulders as it was originally made for a larger man rather than a larger midsection. A tailor would create a bespoke jacket that will accommodate the midsection while still keeping the length and shoulders in perspective. The benefits of bespoke suits greatly outweigh the instant gratification of an off the rack purchase and make the bespoke suit worth every extra penny spent.