Why you should go bespoke

Georgina   |   07-11-2015

Made to measure is one thing but having a suit made bespoke for you is quite another. With sometimes up to 27 measurements taken and up to three fittings to get every panel and stitch correct, buying a suit bespoke is a once in a lifetime experience, that should last a lifetime.

Davide Taub, head cutter from Gieves & Hawkes, one of the oldest tailors on Savile Row, explains the difference.

“With a bespoke suit, a cutter meets the customer, measures them, cuts the pattern and gives it to a single tailor. It’s not a factory process, there’s no salesman. The customer sees the person who makes their suit, there’s no middle person and the patterns made from scratch and kept on record.”

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Bespoke suits can also be let out, taken in or changed over time, as you wish.

“We leave all the cloth on inside, so it can be taken out. And that way it can be taken apart and changed and as customer builds up a wardrobe,” explains Taub.

It’s an experience that will hopefully lead to a long relationship with a tailor or cutter who understands your personal needs and style – you’re not required to fit into a form already made as buying off the rack demands.

“The customer knows they’re being looked after and aren’t just a number.”

And in the world of suits, much like anything else, you get for what you pay for.

“You have department stores offering made to measure and then made to measure pretending to be bespoke – bespoke ranges from cheap suits in the East End, to the City and Soho tailors who are flambouyant. On Savile Row you are getting something of value and it’s an investment,” says Taub.