Custom suits

Custom, made-to-measure, bespoke

"Custom suit" is the phrase most people search for and the one that means the least. Every shop in Mumbai that takes a measurement calls the result custom. Underneath that word are three very different things, and the price difference between them is the difference between a suit that is nearly right and one that is yours.

Custom, as most shops use it, means a ready pattern in your nearest size with the sleeves and trousers shortened. The shoulder, the chest and the balance are whatever the block was. It is alteration with a better name.

Made-to-measure adjusts a standard pattern to a set of your measurements before the cloth is cut, usually by machine, usually without a fitting. It is better than custom, and it is often sold under a grander name.

Bespoke starts from a blank sheet. A pattern is drawn for you from your measurements and your posture, the garment is made up by hand, and you try it on before it is finished so it can be adjusted on your body. The fitting is the thing. Without one, whatever the label says, it is made-to-measure.

How to tell which one you are being sold

Ask three questions. Will I try it on before it is finished? Is the pattern drawn for me or adjusted from a size? Who cuts the cloth? If the answers are no, adjusted and a factory, you are buying a custom suit. There is nothing wrong with that at its price; there is something wrong with paying a bespoke price for it.

What we do

Bespoke, in the plain sense of the word: your pattern, your cloth, hand-made, fitted on you, in the Italian cut. The consultation costs nothing and the price is fixed at the second meeting.