What Are the Pros and Cons of Buying a Bespoke Suit?

Getting a perfect fit and designing a one of a kind suit are some of pros of buying bespoke suits. In fact, getting a perfect fit is often the number one reason a person chooses to go bespoke instead of off the rack or made to measure. The extra expense and amount of time required are potential downsides to not ordering pre-made clothing. In addition to being relatively expensive, bespoke clothing requires the person to be measured and sometimes re-measured.

For many people, the primary advantage of ordering a bespoke suit is getting the best possible fit. A bespoke suit is made for a specific customer, with that customer’s exact measurements dictating every cut of the fabric. An off the rack suit cannot fit a person perfectly unless he or she is the same standard measurements the suit was cut for, which is unlikely. Even made to measure suits are built from imperfect pre-existing templates that often cannot be adjusted to fit perfectly in every way. Bespoke suits do away with sleeves that are slightly too short or pant legs that could be just a little narrower.

Another advantage of purchasing a bespoke suit is designing it. Bespoke tailors can usually design a suit by incorporating certain elements of other suits that a customer likes. In the end, the customer has a completely unique design that likely goes well with his or her other wardrobe essentials and accessories.

Hiring a tailor to create a bespoke suit can be expensive. These professionals craft the garment from scratch with the customer’s own designs and measurements as guidance. Unlike alteration tailors, a bespoke tailor does not work with an existing template, meaning he or she does not have the basic suit ready and only needs to adjust it to meet a customer’s measurements. Many people consider bespoke tailors to be artists because their job requires a certain level of creativity. To harness this creativity and skill to create a bespoke suit, which can take hours of the tailor’s time, a significant amount of money is usually required.

Another potential con of purchasing a bespoke suit is that a customer must be measured and fitted, sometimes more than once. A fitting is when the customer tries on a partially finished garment to see how it is coming along and allow the bespoke tailor to make necessary adjustments. In short, a customer must visit the tailor’s shop in person or have the tailor come to him or her, which often has its own fees. Some people are fooled into thinking bespoke suits can be ordered online; this is completely untrue. A true bespoke suit requires the customer to interact with the bespoke tailor in person, and anything else is either off the rack or made to measure.