Things to consider when commissioning your first made to measure suit
Find inspiration
What kind of suit are you after? Where and when will you wear it?
A question that I get asked regularly is “What are the things I should consider when commissioning my first made to measure (MTM) suit?”. It’s a question I also pondered on before I commissioned my first MTM suit, which by the way wasn’t too successful.
It can be somewhat intimidating as you’re usually investing quite a bit of money into a piece of clothing, so you want to make sure that you get your money’s worth and that you end up with something you will hopefully want to wear for a long time.
The first thing you should do is to find inspiration and plan what you want to commission. If it’s a suit, what kind of suit do you need? In what kind of occasions do you want to wear it? What kind of weather will you be wearing it? The answers to these questions can help you determine things like fabric, color and style.
Secondly I would recommend searching for inspiration. Find images or videos of people wearing the kind of suit you’re after. I find these very useful when you go visit the tailor to show what kind of style and fit you’re after, what kind of proportions you like. Are you after a more generous fit or a slimmer one? Proportions and style of the lapels, cuffs or not, double breasted vs. single breasted and so on.
Another very important thing is to find a good tailor shop. Do your research well here and find a good tailor shop that makes suits that you like. Check their previous work, find out about their house style, research where they make their suits and what kind of constructions they offer. This can be indicative of the quality of their products.
Finally, when you go visit the tailor shop I suggest you bring with you the inspirational images you’ve found and if you already own a suit, trouser or jacket which have the kind of fit you’re going for, wear them to the tailor so your tailor can see what you’re going for.
Caine Clothiers, the gem of Finnish menswear
A few months ago I had the pleasure of visiting Caine Clothiers, probably the best destination for MTM in Finland, to commission a new suit. Caine Clothiers was founded by three friends back in 2018, Joonatan, Joona and Johan (not me haha). Nowadays two of the founders remain, Joonatan and Joona.
The shop is located in the city center of Helsinki in a beautiful old building which is a very fitting location for the store.
When entering the store you discover a carefully curated selection of sartorial clothing as well as a very impressive selection of high quality footwear. One of the things I highly appreciate is the professionalism and kindness you experience when visiting Caine Clothiers. You’re always warmly greeted, offered a cup of espresso and get offered help for whatever you’re after from the store. There is never a sense of urgency or a pushy atmosphere. I wish all stores would have this kind of customer service.
In this article I’ll use my experience with Caine Clothiers as an example on how I went about with commissioning a MTM suit, and hopefully this can provide a little insight and help for you if you decide to commission a suit yourself.
The MTM process
I wore a full suit which had pretty much the kind of fit that I wanted for my new suit when I visited Caine, I had also saved a few images on my phone of suits that I had in mind for my new suit.
We started going through the images and discussing where I would be wearing the suit. Based on this Joona showcased some fabric bunches which had similar types of fabrics. As our discussion and fabric exploration went on it became more clear that I wanted a flannel fabric, and most likely either a chalk stripe or a check patterned fabric. Eventually I settled on a brown chalk stripe flannel from Holland & Sherry.
I ended up going for a chalk stripe flannel fabric from Holland & Sherry
Now that we had the fabric nailed we went into the style of the suit. I wanted something quite classic so we went for a 6x2 double breasted jacket and flap pockets.
After this we started with the measuring process. For the measuring process you are often given a suit in the best fitting standard size to wear for the measuring process. The tailor will determine which size is going to be the basis for the suit that will be made for you and from there during the measuring process the tailor will measure what changes are needed for the standard size.
Unlike when going with a full bespoke suit where the pattern is cut specifically for you, in made to measure ready made patterns are used as a basis and there are a number of measurement points which can be customized. The number of configuration points depends on where you commission your suit, some places only have a few while other places can have 40 or more. In the case of Caine Clothiers there was ample options for custom measurement configurations.
As I mentioned earlier, it’s good practice to wear something that fits similarly to what you’re going for in your new suit. I wore a flannel suit which had the kind of fit and proportions that I wanted for my new suit too. And we discussed this prior to starting the measuring process so Joona knew that I wanted a very classic cut and he made the measurements accordingly.
Finally we discussed details such as buttonholes on the lapels, trouser pleats, cuffs, waistband, buttons, lining and all other details which you have the option of configuring. Throughout the process Joona was very helpful and we discussed what kind of style choices would best fit together with the overall look we were going for. If you don’t have a clear opinion yourself don’t be afraid to ask for suggestions and recommendations from your tailor. When you have researched the tailor you’ll be commissioning the suit from and you trust in their expertise it’s easy to listen to their advice also.
Receiving your MTM suit
After the final details have been decided that’s pretty much it. At this point it’s good to remind you that a MTM suit does take a while to be ready and delivered. So if you have a special occasion or a timeline for when you need the suit, be sure to ask what the usual delivery time is. In the case of Caine Clothiers the estimate was around 6 weeks. For me this was plenty enough as I would need the suit for Pitti Uomo 105 in early January and I made the commission in early November.
Checking the fit of the new suit
I think it took around 5 weeks for the suit to arrive from the factory to Caine. Once I got the message we scheduled a fitting. Once again when I went to visit Caine I was warmly greeted and presented with the suit.
With MTM suits there is usually a fitting involved. While MTM suit basically do arrive ready from the factory, there is still the option of making some adjustments just as you can do at an alteration tailor.
Most common things that might be adjusted based on the fitting is trouser length, sleeve length, waist width of the jacket or trouser etc.
In my case however the fit was perfect. No need to make any adjustments. My body had stayed the same as it was during the time of measuring and the measurements of Joona were spot on accurate as well as the execution of the factory where the suit was produced.
It is not uncommon that when you visit a new tailor for the first time for MTM commission that your first try will not be 100% perfect, but in most cases things can be altered to achieve the desired outcome.
Also the original measurements are updated so that the next time you commission something your measurements are on point. However remember to redo the measurements in case your body measurements or fit preferences change before your next commission.
Me and Joona from Caine Clothiers
In Summary
To summarize here are some tips to keep in mind when you want to commission a MTM suit
Think about the purpose of the suit, where and when will you wear it, in what kind of climate will you wear it?
Find some inspiration on what you’re after, you can use. Instagram or Pinterest are good places to use for finding example images of what you’re looking after. This will help you and the tailor to narrow down fabric options and save time.
Research tailor shops. Where do they manufacture their products, what kind of construction and quality does their products have? How long are the delivery times? What kind of house style do they have? Do you like the stuff they have produced and that they showcase?
Wear existing clothes that have the same kind of fit that you want for your new clothes when visiting the tailor. This can help the tailor see what kind of fit you’re going for and help get the measurements perfect.
Ask for advice and recommendations from your tailor if you’re unsure about anything, they’re there to help you.
I hope this article will be useful for you and do feel free to let me know your best tips and tricks for MTM commissions via DM in Instagram, and if you have any questions don’t hesitate to reach out to via DM and I’ll be happy to try and answer any further questions you might have regarding the topic.
Until the next time,
Johan
