Ready to wear, made to measure and bespoke – part 1

A Hart Schaffner & Marx advertisement

The distinction between the three main categories of suit – ready to wear, made to measure and bespoke – is purely one of fit. While a bespoke suit will normally be better made than one that is ready to wear (RTW), this is not always or necessarily the case.

Italian houses like Kiton and Brioni make RTW suits that are superior in quality to some off-Savile Row tailors. So as much as some people build hand construction into the definition of bespoke, always think of it as a question of fit.

RTW suits are made in a range of sizes. When Hart Schaffner & Marx (now famous worldwide for dressing US President Barack Obama) was the first to produce proportioned suits in 1906, the male body was analysed and broken down into sizes – tall, short, stout and thin. Later, that was refined to size by the breadth of a man’s chest.

Chest was deemed the most consistent of measurements, given how much a man’s waist can vary with his weight and how independent his height can be of other measurements. The standard had to be about the jacket, as it is so much harder to alter than the trousers, and the chest was the most consistent part of the jacket.  

The waist and length of the trousers, though, were also based off this measurement. The standard ‘drop’ today – the difference between a suit’s chest measurement and its trouser waist – is six inches. So a 40-inch jacket will come with 34-inch trousers.

That does vary sometimes with different lines under one brand. Ralph Lauren’s Black Label, for instance, was launched with a seven-inch drop, presuming its prospective clients to be that much more athletic than Polo or Purple Label. The latter now also has a Custom Fit category, which translates into a larger drop. As the drop is reflected in the jacket’s waist as well as that of the trousers, a Black Label or Custom Fit jacket is also slimmer.

RTW sizes have lasted remarkably well. Granted, many brands and designers subtly tweak the shape they label ‘40’ every season, usually based on fit models hired exclusively for that purpose, but the standards are still very consistent. One reason is the other, subtle variations on size. Considering that a 40-inch chest can come in long, regular or short, two or three different styles per line, two or more lines per brand, across many different brands and indeed different continents (most major US brands adapt their sizing to Japan), there are actually hundreds of 40s out there for you to choose from. 

So if you spend enough time researching RTW suits, and have two or three points altered, it shouldn’t be hard to find a good fit. It will never compare to the sculpted look of bespoke, but the suit will be perfectly serviceable – probably better than at least 70% of the male population, which never bothers either with research or alterations.

In part 2 – made to measure and bespoke…