Athletic Cut Custom Suit And Dress Shirt

bespoke suits

ATHLETIC BUILD

For the man of average height whose chest size is at least eight inches more than his waist size, the principle is to reproportion the oversized shoulder with the smaller bottom. Jackets

Shoulders should be as unpadded and natural-looking as possible.
Jackets need length to balance the strong shoulder without shortening the leg line.
Minimal waist suppression.
Two-button single-breasted over double-breasted-avoid three-button single-breasted.
Lapels should be full with slight belly.
Flap on pockets.
Side vents or no vents.
Fabrics should de-emphasize bulk: solid worsteds, herringbones, vertical windowpanes, subtle stripe with no less than 3/4 inch spacing.

Trousers

To fill out the jacket, Trouser must be worn as high on waist as comfortable.
Full cut through hip and thigh with taper to 1 ¾" cuff.
Trouser leg should have definite break on shoe.

Accessories

Assuming a broad face and thick neck:

Vertical shirt collar such as tab or long points.
Solid, striped, or patterned neckwear.
Shirt with strong stripes.
Shoes with larger scale to balance shoulders.

THE DRESS SHIRT

THE DRESS SHIRT COLLAR

When purchasing a dress shirt that is, one intended to be worn with a necktie - consider its collar first. Regardless of whether the shirt appears to go perfectly with your new suits, or is meticulously crafted with vast numbers of stitches to the inch, or even woven in the Caribbean's most lustrous sea island cotton, if its high-banded collar looks at if it might swallow up your neck or its diminutive collar make your already prominent chin appear more so, move on. You need to focus on that portion of the dress shirt responsible for exhibiting to best advantage the body part that should receive the most attention - your face.

The triangle formed by the V opening of a buttoned tailored jacket and extending up to the area just below a person's chin is the cynosure of a man's costume. The area is usually accentuated by contrasts between the darker jacket and lighter shirt, the jacket and tie, and the tie and dress shirt. This triangular sector offers more visible layers of textural activity than any other part of a man's outfit, and the point at which all these elements converge is directly under one's chin, where the inverted V of the dress shirt collar comes to a point.

Think of your face as portrait and your shirt collar as its frame. The collar's height on your neck as well as the length and spread of its points should compliment the shape and size of your face. Within the infinite permutations of angle, scale, and mass, no single article of apparel better enhances a man's countenance than the well-designed dress shirt collar. Since a person's bone structure is fixed, although it will be affected by a weight gain or loss, the choice of collar should be guided by the individual's particular physical requirements rather than the vicissitudes of fashion. Unlike other less visible accoutrements such as hosiery or shirt cuffs, this focal point constitutes one of a man's most revealing gestures of personal style. All sophisticated dressers have arrives at one or more collar styles that best highlight their unique features while managing to add a bit of dash along the way.

Choosing the appropriate shirt collar requires experimentation and common sense. A smallish man with delicate features would be lost in a high-set collar with points longer than 3 ¼". Conversely, a heavyset or big-boned man would loom even larger and overshadow a small collar. Collars should counterbalance the facial structure by either softening its strong lines or strengthening its soft ones. Long straight point collars - those 3" or more - will extend and narrow a wide face just as the broad-spaced points of spread collars will offset the line of long narrow one.

Tab collars or other pinned collars have the necessary height to shorten long necks. Strong-chinned men require fuller proportioned collars, just as large tabletops clamor for ample pedestals to achieve aesthetic balance. Though, admittedly, button-downs can look casually stylish, they are too often favored by exactly the kind of men who should avoid them - the double chinned set. Softer-chinned men need slightly higher and firmer collars to compensate for the lack of a strong line under their face.

Throughout the eighties and up through the mid-nineties, most dress shirts-no matter how expensive-generally had collars that were to small for the average wearer's face. In an effort to convey a more casual and less structured formality, men's fashion has explored many approaches to neutralizing the collar's conventional starched and ordered format. Consequently, collars have been lowered, shortened, and softened to such degrees that the original precepts for their correct proportioning have either been distorted or lost completely. Button-downs have little or no roll, straight point collars are so short even the smallest tie knot prevents their point from touching the shirt's chest, while spread collars are so low on the neck they have been sapped of all their strength and flair. Except for those produced by a few high-end American, English, or Italian shirt makers, most dress shirts give the impression they are apologizing for their collars.

I cannot help but wonder whether the long-understood sartorial contract between a man and the conventional format of a buttoned-up dress shirt and drawn-up necktie - which, in effect, exchanged superior stature for a measure of restriction - is no longer able to be negotiated. Since many of the contemporary, more diminutive collar styles fail to heighten the wearer's appearance, they offer little compensation for their inherent discomfort. As a result, many alternatives have been put forth in an effort to replace the classic dress shirt collar composition.

However, as Oscar Schoeffler, longtime fashion editor of Esquire, once warned, "Never underestimate the power of what you wear. After all, there is just a small bit of you sticking out at the collar and cuff. The rest of what the world sees is what you drape on your frame." Therefore, the most important factor to weigh when buying a dress shirt isn't its color, fit, or price. It is the collar and its smartness for the wearer's face.

FIT

Other than the Italians, who are almost fetishistically meticulous about the fit of their dress shirts, most men wear theirs too short in the sleeve, too small in the collar, and too full around the wrist. The explanation for this is relatively straightforward: successive washings shrink collar size and sleeve length, while most shirting manufacturers allow enough breadth in a man's cuff to accommodate a large wrist girded by a Rolex-type watch.

The best dress shirt is useless if its collar does not fit comfortably. With the top button closed, you should be able to slide two-dress shirt. Most better dress shirt makers add an extra 0.5 inch to the stated collar size to allow for shrinkage within the first several washings. I would never wear a new dress shirt unless it fits perfectly around the neck in the store or when first tried on at home. If this not be the case, it is best return it or risk being strangled by a smaller collar before too very long.

The back of the shirt collar should be high enough to show 0.5 inches above the rear portion of the jacket's collar. Its points should be able to touch the shirt's body and rest smoothly on its front. When a tie is fitted up into the collar, its points should be long enough to remain in contact with the shirt's body, regardless of how sharply the wearer turns his head. No part of the collar's band should be able to be seen peeking over the tie's knot. Semi spread to cutaway collars should have no tie space above the tie's knot. In other words, both sides of the collar's inverted V should meet or touch each other while the edges of their point should be covered by both sides of the jacket's lapels.

We invite you to check out some of our other useful custom tailoring related information:

Why a Bespoke Tailor-Made Suit is the best you can buy

The discovery process for deciding whether to buy tailor-made suits as opposed to continuing to buy suits off-the-rack from retail stores is not as complex as you might think. What you should be aiming for is not a tailor-made suit but a custom-made suit which technically is a hand made men suit. Men and women frequently reach a point of frustration in trying to find what they want from specialty clothing stores or branded retail stores. Certain brand name suits are high quality articles but are designed within trendy fashion parameters for mass distribution. No matter how good they look on the rack, when you put one on, it invariably needs lots of alterations to reach the point where it meets the “it fits you” definition, a very loose term meaning it has been altered to the point where you can wear it.

The tradition of buying suits from retail stores dies hard, even though what you buy often goes out of style, doesn’t wear well, and is not a good value. You find yourself right back in the same position again and again, spending more than you should for a suit that doesn’t come close to being what you want. When you review what you have in your closet, most of your suits have not withstood the test of time. Some things may be acceptable by worn-out standards; other things you just can’t stand looking at and don’t want to wear.

The option to buy a tailor made tuxedo suit is not something that most people logically consider because they think they can’t afford to buy clothes that are custom-made, another word for tailor-made. Custom-made suits are uniquely designed and handsomely fitting. If you do some research, you will find that seeking the services of a Master Tailor that will design and assemble a custom-made suit for you is no more expensive than buying off-the-rack, mass merchandized suits in a retail store. The quality is far superior and the fit is perfect; after all a custom-made suit is made to your specifications and measurements. Custom–made suits stand the test of time and can be worn for a variety of occasions, including formal events, business meetings, social outings, and much more.

If you want to make the transition to buying custom-made suits, you must find a Master Tailor that will understand precisely what you want and operate within fashion and budget standards that you mutually agree on. A Master Tailor is a Custom Tailor aka, Bespoke Tailor. These are all terms that define the finest clothing design and assembly artisans in the world. A true Bespoke Tailor is a fashion design expert, a fabric choice specialist, an accessories master, and a skilled measurements artist.

What is a Bespoke Tailor?

When we talk about the best Master Tailors in the world, those that originated from Europe and Asia, we are referring to the art of bespoke tailoring. The word "bespoke" from the verb bespeak, refers to the art of specializing an order to make something unique and of high quality. In the fashion world bespoke is reserved for labeling individually patterned and crafted men's clothing. For women's clothes the designated term is Haute Couture. This is diametrically opposed to the concept of mass-manufactured and mass distributed clothing lines.

A Bespoke suit is designed and cut from a pattern uniquely conceived from an idea and a template unique to an individual client. The measurements originate from a client profile compiled by the Bespoke Tailor. A Bespoke Suit is not only determined to be an original piece, it has been further defined as more expensive and of significantly higher quality. Modern Bespoke Tailors, that truly attain to that designation, maintain their commitment to quality but through their expertise and experience they also create great value in the works they create compared to suits that are mass-produced.

My Custom Tailor is a unique, third generation manufacturer of custom-made suits and shirts that serves men and women all over the world. They are true artisans with expertise and experience evolving from the clothing design firms and manufacturing factories centered in such major fashion centers as Singapore, Bangkok, and Milan to name just a few. My Custom Tailor maintains the lost art of making custom-made, handmade clothes. Our Master Tailors are classic Bespoke Tailors and are among the most experienced and talented in the world. They adhere to proven design and assembly standards that differentiate their creativity and workmanship from anything available from any other source. My Custom Tailor has evolved with a unique commitment to travel to major cities all over the world to serve their clientele. This allows new clients to experience the unique process of having a Master Tailor or Bespoke Tailor relationship.

Made-to-Measure is not Bespoke

A bespoke suit is made to order without the use of a pre-existing pattern. Made-to-measure alters an existing, standard-sized pattern to fit the customer. When a client orders a made-to-measure suit, he/she must often schedule multiple fittings to make sure the ongoing adjustments are on the right track. A bespoke pattern is an individually cut pattern which can be kept in a file for use in the future to make additional custom-made suits. Made-to-measure suit designs do incorporate hand-made work, but the work is coming off a standard, mass produced pattern not one unique to the client.

Not all made-to-measure companies apply the same amount of modification to the original pattern. This inconsistency results in made-to-measure suits that have minimal alterations, a process that can miss important elements of the client’s shape. A closure attention to detail and a willingness to make all the alterations necessary to justify the need for shoulder-padding, armhole size, waist accommodation, etc. These are not subtle design parameters. When all the details of a client’s physique are calibrated as part of the final suit design, you get not only a perfect fit but one that is comfortable and flattering.

Some tailors that earn the right to be called Bespoke Tailors, or just assume the associated accreditation, don’t have the natural instincts or expertise that old-school bespoke tailors possess. So, when they attempt a bespoke design, they require multiple fittings over multiple visits, dramatically increasing the cost to complete the final design. A bad bespoke design will look worse and cost a lot more than an off-the-rack suit from a retail store. It is important to make sure a designated bespoke tailor has the true talent and expertise to claim that distinction.

True Bespoke Tailors, like those that have evolved within My Custom Tailor, work diligently to ensure a precise fit. This is the ultimate test of a bespoke suit whether you are a perfectly shaped man/woman or are someone that has body features that need neutralization or accentuation in attaining a bespoke look. Beyond the inherent skills possessed by a My Custom Tailor Master Tailors, they establish a strong personal dialog regarding the needs and wants of their clients. They are able to conduct a comprehensive measurements profile and complete the custom-made design without having to engage multiple times with the client. This ensures a custom-fit that is desired at a much lower price.

Fabrics are the foundation

Fabrics come in many forms and the finest fabrics cost more than ordinary fabrics you typically see in suits from a retail outlet. The quality and workability of a particular fabric contribute to the distinct look and feel of a high-quality bespoke suit or shirt. There is no need to avoid pricier, premium fabrics as they not only look and fit better, but they also last longer, often three times longer that less expensive fabrics. The ideal fabric benefit/price point for you is a detail you will negotiate with your My Custom Tailor Master Tailor.

Fabrics are graded and the best grades are above 100 or 110. Suits are available from grade 80 all the way up to 180. My Custom Tailor Master Tailors has access to a wide range of suit and shirt fabrics, some of which are the best available for suit and shirt making in the world. These fabric evaluation specialists will help you pick a grade that fits your budget and will guide you to understand the benefits associated with specific fabrics. A Master Tailor is agnostic to the type of fabric you choose. He will just want to make sure you get the best possible quality and fit available at your chosen price point.

Visit the My Custom Tailor Website and review the Travelling Master Taylor Roadshow schedule to see when something is scheduled for your city. Make an appointment and start a dialogue with a true Bespoke Tailor. Give him a detailed description of what you want and a budget range you want to stay within. The budget standard should be consistent with what you have been spending on suits you have bought from retail outlets. Have your measurements taken and documented. Assuming the cost of a custom-made wardrobe is very close to your budget range; think about the advantages of having that same wardrobe made by a My Custom Tailor Bespoke Tailor:

The clothes will fit perfectly because they are made to your exact specifications

The fabrics will be the best you can buy for the type of clothes you have specified

Accessories in the form of linings, buttons, pleats, collars, waist details, cuffs, zippers, etc., will be much better than what you will get from mass merchandized clothes

The clothes will be designed and assembled by master tailors and cutters, all of which are true artisans with years of experience.

The quality standards will be the best available

A single source for all your wardrobe needs

Your measurements are on file as part of your My Custom Tailor Profile so you can order more custom-made clothes online any time you want to

When you visit a My Custom Tailor USA Roadshow, you will be meeting directly with the person designing and assembling your garment. The person who does the design, guides the fabric cutting, and conducts the needlework workmanship will be working directly for you and working off the measurement profile he creates from measuring you in person. He incorporates details he has confirmed with you that often include the number of jacket buttons, pocket style, vent options, zipper design, pant pleats, cuffs, interior lining, lapel width, button-stance, gorge height, etc.

Perhaps you own a suit that you consider to be the best quality and fit you have ever owned. Bring it with you to the roadshow event and show it to the tailor as an indication of what you want made or replicated in your next design. He will give you feedback on how he can make the same thing for what you paid for it while adding quality and wear features that will give you greater value. That is also a good way to let the tailor see the kind of fit you desire; again, he can give you what you have or suggest areas of improvement that will give you an even better fit.

Before you attend a roadshow event, visit the My Custom Tailor Website to review the various clothing collectibles that distinguish our portfolio. Also, take a look at the quality standards we adhere to in anything we do. My Custom Tailor is out there and available to help you understand all the advantages of buying custom-made clothing that offer the ultimate in quality and value.

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