Want to answer this question because I think my account has made some people interested in custom tailoring, and I'm afraid they're going to waste their money on bad purchases. 🧵
I often get emails from people who are getting married and want the best suit possible for their big day. So their instinct is to spring for a custom suit. They assume that custom is better than ready-to-wear (RTW). This is a mistake.
It may be that you need custom, but custom need not be better than ready-to-wear.
Here are two garments made by the same company. One is bespoke; the other is RTW. Can you spot the difference?
(Ignore the shirt cuff. Adjusting a coat sleeve is a trivial job for alterations)
Answer: the bespoke coat accounts for the wearer's asymmetrically sloped shoulders. RTW does not, so there is some collapsing around the rib cage on the wearer's right side.
But this, too, can be adjusted through alterations. Just have to take a wedge out of the shoulder.
If you adjust the ready-to-wear coat above in this way, the two coats would be identical. The challenge, then, is for you to recognize when a garment fits.
If you go to a skilled tailor, they will take care of these details for you. But this assumes you have a good tailor.
In fact, most custom tailoring is quite bad. The downside of custom tailoring is that you can't put things back on the rack if they don't fit. Any operation that offers a money-back guarantee is a bad tailor that's banking on the probability you won't know the difference.
A lot of custom tailoring on the market is made-to-measure (MTM). And while good MTM exists (and can be better than bad bespoke), there are also a lot of bad MTM operations out there.
What's the difference between bespoke and MTM?
Bespoke means a garment is made from scratch. The pattern is (theoretically) drafted for you from scratch. The garment is then made through a series of typically three fittings.
MTM is made by digitally adjusting a pre-made block pattern. Garment is made straight to finish.
A lot of MTM operations out there, particularly those charging less than $1k for a suit, are using trendy pre-made block patterns. That means short, tight coat and very slim pants. This can be great if you're built like a Saint Laurent model, but most customers are not.
This is how you wind up with so many of the things I mention on this account:
- Collar gap
- Lapel buckles from chest
- Shoulder divots
- Pulling at the buttoning point
- Shirt fabric shows below buttoning point
- Overly high buttoning point
- Pants cling to legs
Etc etc etc
Such problems are exacerbated when you buy custom tailoring online because you no longer have an experienced fitter helping you figure out what needs to be changed. Adjusting a custom garment is not trivial. Changing one part can cause problems in other areas.
There are many reasons to go custom:
- You value craftsmanship for its own sake
- You like a certain tailor's house style
- You have an uncommon build. For example, if you have a size 46 or 48 chest, you probably need custom. If you are over 6'4", you also prob need custom.
The chance of you being one of those builds is small. You are probably a good fit for ready-to-wear adjusted through alterations. The upside of RTW is that you can put things back on the rack if you don't like it. Some RTW options I like:
If you want to go custom, choose a tailor whose house style you like. Ideally, you've seen their work on real people (not models). Better still if those people have a similar build as you. Don't assume that custom automatically means "better."
If you do MTM, ask the shop if they have try-on garments. These are ready-made garments produced on the block pattern. By trying these on first, you can see:
- Do you like the general silhouette on you
- How far are you from the block. Fewer adjustments = better
Online made-to-measure can be fine for simple garments like shirts. They are much more risky for things like suits, sport coats, and even trousers. Try ready-to-wear first. Identify your specific fit challenges and see if they can be solved through alterations.
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In this thread, I will tell you, definitively, whether Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.
This way, you will be more informed when shopping for your wardrobe . 🧵
I should state two things at the outset.
First, I never comment on womenswear because I don't know anything about it. This thread isn't actually about Sweeney's jeans (sorry, I lied). But in the last few days, I've seen grown men buying American Eagle jeans and I can't abide.
Second, while clothing quality matters, it's more important to develop a sense of taste. Buying clothes isn't like shopping for electronics — you don't "max out" specs. It's more like buying coffee — you sample around and identify what notes you like. Develop taste.
Sometimes I think about the closure of G. Lorenzi, a Milanese gentleman's shop that had been around for almost 100 years until their closure in 2014. The shop was special because it carried so many one-of-a-kind items from artisans — total handmade craft production, not factory.
At the time of their closure, they still carried over 20,000 items of 3,000 models, including speciality knives, picnic sets, and nutcrackers. They had over 100 styles of nail clippers and 300 different hairbrushes alone. Proprietor Aldo Lorenzi scoured the world for artisans.
There's nothing wrong with factory production. But as more of our lives get taken over by machines — including art and writing — this sort of production feels special.
Trailer for "A Knife Life," a documentary about the store by my friend Gianluca Migliarotti, available on Vimeo
I spent 15 yrs on a menswear forum. The longest argument I had was over a tiny detail that can be seen in this photo. For 6 months, I argued with the same five guys non-stop every day. The argument got so heated the forum owner banned one guy for life.
As I've mentioned before, there's a lot of coded language in menswear. Navy suits can be worn with black oxfords because this was the uniform of London businessmen. Brown tweeds go with brogues because these clothes were worn in the country. In this way, we get formal vs. casual.
The same is true for shoes. Tiny details come together to communicate something, much like how words form a sentence. Black is more formal than brown; calfskin more formal than suede or pebble grain; plain design is more formal than broguing. All of this stems from history.
The year is 2024 and you're browsing for a new shirt online. You come across a store selling shirts from Portuguese Flannel. You do your research and find they make quality garments: clean single-needle stitching, flat felled seams, quality fabrics, MOP buttons, classic designs
So you go ahead and purchase one. The shop charges 139 Euros and throws in free shipping. Given the exchange rate in 2024, that means you paid $163.19.
First, let's do an experiment. Here are two relatively similar outfits: a blue shirt with a pair of dark blue jeans.
Which do you like better? Reply to this tweet with your answer. This way, people can see how the majority of people "voted."
If you said the right, then we have the same taste. This is despite the outfit on the left following this exact guide — and the outfit on the right not appearing in the guide at all.
I both agree and disagree that it's subjective. Like with anything, my views on tailoring stems from a "first principle." That principle is that men wore tailored clothing better in the past (specifically the period from about the 1930s through 80s). 🧵
If we agree on this, then there are certain ideas that naturally flow from this principle, partly because men's dress during this period was governed by time, place, and occasion. As stated before, one such idea was city vs country clothing.
Another such idea was resort or evening wear. Or summer vs winter wear. And so forth.
One can carry these ideas forward into today's age without it look like historical cosplay. Just like how we are currently using words to communicate, some from the early 1900s.