5 Things You Should Know Before Buying A Custom Suit
Whether you’re a professional or a casual suit wearer, every wardrobe should contain a suit or two – both for everyday/office wear and a tailored suit for dressier events. For work, you could simply get a suit off the rack and it should serve its purpose. However, a bespoke suit tailored exactly to your size is a necessity to stand out from the crowd and to create a unique look specific to your style.
A bespoke suit is completely custom and handmade. It is not as simple as buying a suit from a store. You will have to go in for many fittings as the tailor will want to make it as perfect as possible for your body shape. In this regard, you can’t do better than a bespoke suit which has the power to increase your confidence just by wearing it.
Before you go in search of a custom suit, there are a few things you need to consider. Below, we will be highlighting some important information you need to know before you purchase a bespoke suit.
5 Things You Should Know
- Understand your budget – Custom suits are more expensive than your regular suits. Off-the-rack suits are mass-produced using machinery according to general body size and so the cost of tailoring the suit is much lower. A bespoke suit, on the other hand, is handcrafted meaning that one tailor or a group of them have worked on the measuring, stitching, lining, and padding of the suit. A lot more time and effort is spent on tailoring just one suit, and this is reflected in the price.
If you can determine the budget early on, the tailor will be able to tell you what kind of suit you can expect for that price. If not, you may be disappointed with the final result.
- Choose the best fabric – The fabric makes the suit. Your entire suit’s look and feel will be determined by the fabric you end up using. Therefore, it is important to make this decision before you start work on the suit. Any fabric that is synthetically made should be avoided as it won’t last very long and will not be as comfortable.
You should also factor in other conditions such as whether or not you sweat a lot. If you do, you need to choose a fabric that is light so the suit can breathe more easily such as cotton or linen. Wool is another all-around great choice that you can wear at any time, in any climate. If you live in an area that is cold, then you will need thicker materials such as flannel or tweed for comfort. For more insight, you can ask your tailor directly and get their recommendation based on your budget.
- Make sure you have the body you want before purchasing – Bespoke suits are made exactly according to your body size. Once it is completely tailored, it is a difficult process to alter again. Bespoke suits are tailored to fit you for years to come so you need to ensure that you’re in the shape you want to be before you visit the store.
If you’re in the process of losing weight, you should ideally wait until you have reached your target weight. Think of it this way, at the end of your fitness journey, you will have an expensive custom fit suit ready for you that will make you look dashing with all that lost weight.
- You will need to take precise measurements for every part of your body – Because of the process of bespoke tailoring, you should expect the body measurements process to take quite some time. It is also an opportunity for you to judge the competency of the tailor you have approached. If your tailor does a quick job of measuring with no real communication, you should probably get out of there and find another tailor.
Typically, a good tailor would take more than 30 different measurements including height, waist, inseam, sleeves, chest size, and more. You should also make sure your tailor is not rushing the job as any mistakes will take the tailoring process much longer.
- Understand that this is not a quick tailoring job – If you need a suit stitched quickly for an upcoming event, then you should probably not make it a bespoke suit. Unlike a normally stitched suit which can take about a week, a custom suit can take anywhere between 3 weeks to 2 months to complete. You will need to be patient to get that perfect fitting suit.
If you need further assistance or advice, get in touch with our team today!