There are different opinions as to what constitutes authentic luxury. It is generally agreed that true luxury products should be hard to acquire, be crafted by hand, beautiful and of the highest possible quality. Ideally, it should be one-of-a-kind and made to an individual’s unique specifications. A gentleman’s bespoke suit fulfils all those criteria. Being made to a pattern created especially for a particular customer, with a master tailor, fitter, or designer taking numerous measurements of the client’s body and expertly eyeing his posture and figure, detecting flaws and devising ways to best conceal them before drafting and gradually hones this one-off pattern.
When a client purchases a couture gown, they bow to the designer’s aesthetic vision. However, when a suit is commissioned, the client is at liberty to choose from a vast array of options including the cut, cloth, lining, details and structure. This can be overwhelming and there can be the temptation to indulge in inadvisable flights of stylistic fancy. An experienced tailor or designer will guide their client to make prudent choices, resulting in the most flattering garment for that individual customer.
A bespoke suit will be artfully handsewn and carefully adjusted over the course of up to five fittings, ensuring it drapes in a way that flatters the client’s physique and posture – no matter whether they’re short or tall, upstanding or hunched, slim or portly.
Typically made using cloth that costs at least $130 per meter, with still more extravagant materials available, a garment of this type can take up to 50 plus hours to fit, cut and craft by hand. This helps explain why the price of a bespoke suits can range between $4,000 to $65,000. To illustrate, say a client selects a cloth that cost $130 per meter wholesale, with an average two piece suit using 3 3/4 meters, add the cost of the trimmings (such as canvas, lining, buttons, silk threads, etc.), the labor cost of 50 hours, overhead cost, and profit margin. While the costs may seem high, but in fact represent excellent value. Unlike a factory-made ready-to-wear suit, which inevitably has a short lifespan, a bespoke suit is of sufficient quality that it could potentially be passed down from one generation to the next.
“Some people say bespoke is expensive, but that garment will last you more than 20 years,” says leading British tailor Steven Hitchcock, who has outfitted Prince Charles. “Divide the cost by 20 and you basically have a bargain.”
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