Nowadays the terms bespoke and made to measure shirts are being mixed up and misused. However, the difference is actually quite simple.
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Bespoke
A shirt is bespoke when the pattern (form of the shirt) has been made from scratch solely for a single persons shirt. This pattern is what the shirt makers use to create the shape of the shirt. Posture is taken into consideration in this case as well and the shirt is made accordingly. All bespoke shirts are entirely hand sewn and made by the tailor himself.
In addition, collars and cuffs can be made exactly how you want them to be, down to the nearest cm/inch. In fact, that means that in theory the complete design of the shirt is up to you.
Bespoke shirts usually have a waiting time of several weeks and commonly are significantly more expensive than made to measure shirts. A true bespoke tailor will never let you wear anything he is not satisfied with himself.
Made To Measure
Made to measure (MTM) on the other hand is when the shirt maker uses a pre made pattern and adjusts it for the size of the person. Made to measure shirts fit better than ready to wear (RTW) shirts as the ready to wear shirts are averages of people and not individually fitted for a single person.
MTM dress shirts are sown by hand and machine and are sent to a factory where the shirt is made like ready to wear garments except it follows your measurements.
As for tailored shirts they fall into the category of MTM shirts, but are often incorrectly used to indicate that a shirt is bespoke.
Do you have another definition of bespoke in your mind? Write a comment…
May 1st, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Here is a similar definition “Bespoke is usually a British English term for tailored clothing made at a customer’s behest (request), and exactly to the customer’s specification. Bespoke clothing is created without use of a pre-existing pattern, differentiating it from made to measure, which alters a standard-sized pattern to fit the customer. In American English, it is a synonym for ‘custom made.’”
My expertise is in measuring, style, design, fabric, function and fit . For the last ten years I have been designing clothing which is then made to measure with adjustments that I have the factory make based on customer preference and my own personal design techniques. The issues most men today have with bespoke is that it takes to 3 or 6 fittings to get the garments perfect. It becomes too time consuming and in turn, very expensive. Expect to pay $2000 to $4000 for an entry level bespoke suit and a $200 to $600 for a bespoke shirt.
On the other hand, I put 24 measurements into the creation of a made to measure suit and 16 into a custom shirt. When I give the factory this kind of detail it more often than not comes out perfect. Any adjustments or changing preferences can be noted for future garment orders. The best part about it is the savings over bespoke. Custom suits start at $895 and custom shirts at $100, with most of my selection between $100 & $200.
Jeff Collins, Professional Haberdasher
http://www.myhaberdasher.com