The London Lounge

Many articles on the site refer to bespoke versus made to measure, hand made versus machine made products. I understand the differences better, but what’s missing is the relative pricing of these products. What should one expect to pay for a machine made garment made to measure, for example, as opposed to a hand made one?

Trev

Dear Trevor,

It is very confusing. And it is made so purposefully by lots of marketing.

As far as Savile Row resources go, I would suggest reading Tom Mahon’s article on the subject. It seems pretty accurate to me. One should expect to pay about 800-1000 pounds for a largely machine made suit (ie one containing less than 30% hand work) as opposed to 2400-3000 pounds for a handmade product.

http://www.englishcut.com/archives/000016.html

The Savile Row association webpage has a section about the details that must be accomplished by hand for a garment to be considered bespoke. It is a useful resource though, for my tastes, a coat should be virtually all hand sewn. Each SR house will have a different take on the subject, so it’s best to ask.

If you are using an individual artisan and not a tailoring firm the variance in method may be wide spread.

Remember that individual craftsmen look at the subject of compensation from an hourly point of view: how much time will it take to complete the garment in the way the customer desires? A machine made garment can be made in a jiffy compared to the fifty or so hours needed for a hand made equivalent. If the customer wants an unlined coat or special detailing like lapped seams, the additional time and associated costs will be billed as well. My own tailor does work for me completely by hand, but not all customers are as demanding.

What you must avoid doing is paying the hand made price for a machine made product; and there are people out there who will propose it so caveat emptor.

Are their tailoring houses who do both? I mean if they measure and make a pattern, can they make the garment in either way, by machine or by hand?

Trevor

Souster and Hicks offer two grades of bespoke as well as a standard MTM.

The two bespoke grades are termed something like 'machine finished' and 'hand finished'. Further details, including price, can be found on their web site. Bespoke is only available at their Woburn premises.

I went to see the Woburn shop earlier this year and spoke with Mr Souster and was very impressed by what I saw. The standard of tailoring was, as you may expect, excellent but Mr Souster is also a very knowledgeable and enthusiastic advocate of his craft. He took time to discuss his methods and ideas and was also very forthcoming with stylistic ideas and suggestions. I have found this level of input cannot be taken for granted with tailors and it was very refreshing to see.

Regards
GAH

Machine made garments have come a long,long way . . . the problem is that fewer and fewer quality houses exist, to create them, and to refine what's already been accomplished. At the end of his career, Yves Saint Laurent said, flat out: a coat from his Rive Gauche collection, was indistinguishable, from haute couture. That doesn't hold true for the 'average' house, though.