We understand that those who decide to opt for a made-to-measure suit are strongly motivated by the desire to distinguish themselves from others, to assert their own personality and taste, rejecting the schemes imposed by conformism; nevertheless they demand that their suit be exclusive, that it become their second skin, following the lines of their body, minimising any defects, that it respect all their expectations of quality and elegance, of excellent manufacture, with a touch of originality and personalisation.
What you need to know before joining a tailor’s shop
First of all, it is important to choose a good tailor’s shop, eschewing low-cost bespoke tailoring offers, seemingly convenient because of the low cost and speed of making a good garment. Making a bespoke suit is not an easy task and not everyone has the right skills and experience, despite what you may be told. It often happens that someone thinks they are Armani or Valentino, just because they can do a basting or a hem on a skirt, but they don’t always know what they are doing.
Passion, technical preparation and constant updating, creativity, experience and great manual dexterity are the prerequisites for carrying out the art of tailoring with professionalism; last but not least, the ability to listen to customers, in order to understand their expectations, needs and personality. Therefore, it is necessary to ascertain the good name of the tailor’s shop you have identified, perhaps by using word of mouth among friends, the web and social networks, viewing work already done or starting to use it for simple alterations to a garment.
Never choose based on price: it would not be the right choice for the best result. Moreover, a bespoke suit made in an excellent tailor’s workshop is never more expensive or of lesser quality than a garment made by the big brands.
Clear ideas matter
Another important aspect that needs to be considered is the clarity of ideas on the design of the garment to be made to measure. A good tailor’s shop, with the requirements mentioned, can be of great help in guiding us in the right direction, avoiding confusion in ourselves and in those who have to make our beautiful garment to wear with a touch of pride and, above all, without unnecessary loss of time and cost. In this regard, it is good to know that any changes to the original design result in loss of time due to changes on the pattern and numerous additional tests, which increases costs.
The choice of fabric
It sometimes happens that someone arrives at the tailor’s shop with a very clear idea of the garment they want to make for themselves, having seen the model in the windows of designer shops or in fashion magazines. Well, even in this case it is important to know that the garment is also the result of the fabric chosen and used to achieve the very effect that struck us. In fact, a certain type of dress looks best in one type of fabric but may look awful in another (wool does not perform as well as cotton or silk does not perform as well as velvet, and so on).
In addition, there are fabrics used by the big brands that are spun by certain companies exclusively for them and, therefore, not readily available in specialist shops. Again, a good tailor will be able to give you the right advice to achieve the desired effect.
A bespoke suit, finally, is not within everyone’s reach; certainly not because of the cost which, as we have said, in many cases could be equal to or even decidedly lower than that of the most famous brands, but because you need to have the culture that allows you to grasp the value of creativity, uniqueness and exclusivity, as well as the differences between a good and a mediocre workmanship and, therefore, the time needed for the best result; to grasp the difference between a fabric of excellent quality and adaptability to the model and a fabric of dubious origin and quality (we always choose good Italian yarns), the difference between handmade embroidery with high quality products and fake embroidery applied with resins and glues.
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