What To Expect

Visiting a bespoke tailor can be intimidating for anyone, and particularly one on Savile Row with royal warrants covering the walls. It’s useful to know what to expect and what will happen at each appointment.

Usually a bespoke suit will take three or four appointments, with each separated by a few weeks. At the first appointment the style of the suit will be discussed, and the cloth selected. These are not easy decisions to make, and it’s worth giving considerable thought to them beforehand – even bringing in images of suits you like. A picture can tell a thousand words.

“I find the best prepared customers are often those that have thought clearly about how and where the suit will be worn – the occasion, for work or leisure, for a particular event. That immediately narrows down the cloth choice,” says Ben Clarke at Richard James.

Colin Heywood at Anderson & Sheppard adds that a subtle cloth can be a good place to start. “The best advice we can offer to a new customer is to choose a fabric that will allow the silhouette, fit and craftsmanship of the garment to shine through. Often a plain dark blue or grey cloth will provide the most use for a suit as it can be worn every day and work for almost all occasions,” he says.

After these decisions have been made, measurements are taken and some tailors will ask to take photos to help them remember your posture and stance. Once they start pointing things out, it’s amazing how quickly you notice that everyone has one shoulder lower than the other, one further forward than the other, and so on.

Richard Anderson

At the second appointment there will be a fitting in something that doesn’t look much like a suit. It will have been ‘basted’ together with loose stitches, to make it easier for the tailor to take it apart again afterwards. This fitting is mostly so the tailor can get the right balance (front to back and left to right). You won’t be asked to contribute much, but do voice any thoughts, particularly on the length of the jacket.