Whether you are shopping for a new suit for work, a wedding, a graduation, or just for casual wear, custom suits will always be the best value for your money and here are 5 reasons why.
The Fit
The fit is the most obvious reason why a custom made suit is superior to off-the-rack . While some people fit ready-to-wear sizes pretty much spot on, this is not the case for most people and it can be especially tricky with tailoring. Maybe you are tall so all suit jackets seem too short. Maybe you had a shoulder injury once and now all tailored garments fit uncomfortably on your shoulders. Maybe you are muscular and the upper backs are always too tight or maybe you struggle to find trousers that don’t need a belt to stay up. Whatever might be the case, a custom made suit will be the best option for the right fit. We recommend a bespoke made suit as the fit can get as close to perfect as possible with as many basted fittings as needed. Our made-to-measure option also includes a fitting that can account for most of the fit issues that ready-to-wear can’t. With either of our custom make options, your tailored garments will be the best fit that money can buy. Read more about our different make options here and here.
The Longevity
Most ready-to-wear suits are fused, meaning the lining and outer fabric are glued together. However, glue dries up over time. That means that your ready-to-wear suits can come apart and bobble. While some custom suits might also be made with fusing, it is not the best for the longevity of your garments, at least not if the entire garment is fused. With our bespoke make, we do not use any fusing at all. Instead, our linings are attached by hand stitching to a canvassing made with horsehair and linen, which also is attached to the outer fabric with hand stitching. This means that there is no glue in any part of the construction and your garments will never bobble and will have a much better shape. In comparison, our made-to-measure make is half-canvassed, meaning that the upper part of the garment (from shoulder to just below the pocket) is hand-stitched and kept together with canvassing between the lining and the outer fabric and only the hem of the garment is fused to the lining. Since the upper part of the jacket is where most of the issues with fusing happens, this will still keep the longevity of your jacket much longer than a full-fused garment.
The Materials
Many popular ready-to-wear suitmakers not only fuse their garments but also use fabrics often blended with lower-quality materials such as polyester, viscose, or acrylic. Other times fabrics might truly be 100% wool, cashmere, etc. but the fabrics are woven of tiny pieces of scrap wool from large factories instead of full strands of wool. These shorter strands of wool tend to break a lot faster than full strands. All of our custom made suits, both bespoke and made-to-measure, are made with full-strand wool or cashmere or blended only with silk, cotton, lambswool, etc. We do not use any synthetic fabrics such as polyester, which is a petroleum byproduct. Not only are these synthetic fibers bad for the environment, but they are also cheap, easily breakable, and they will decrease the breathability of your garments as well as potentially irritate your skin. With our custom suits made of luxury, natural fabrics from England and Italy you will get much better value for your money. Read more about our ethos and how we think about the fabrics that we work with here.
The Design
Have you ever bought something that wasn’t quite what you wanted, but close enough? Maybe you were looking for a certain shade of green and couldn’t find it, so you settled for what was available in the store. Maybe you wanted a really beautiful lining to commemorate a special occasion, but you could only find solid colors. Maybe you were dreaming of recreating a garment you once loved or something you saw a friend wear but gave up the hunt. With a custom made suit the design opportunities are endless. If you are looking to make something unique in a special pattern, specific fabric, or potentially a more creative cut then our bespoke make option is the right choice for you. With a bespoke suit, there are no limitations to what we can do in terms of design and we will work with you to create the garment of your dreams. If you are looking for something equally special but perhaps a little less involved then perhaps consider our made-to-measure options. We offer many different design options and combinations that allow you to pick and choose the design elements that speak to you and put your stamp on your custom made suit.
The Service
At S.M Bespoke we pride ourselves on our service and our attention to detail. We keep the pattern for your garments on file so that we better can help you with any future projects you might want to undertake. We also offer free alterations for up to 6 months after you take your suit home and alterations on an as-needed basis after that. We know your style and fit preferences and can help you with alterations and questions about garment care. When buying a custom S.M Bespoke suit we are with you every step of the way.
