A suit as unique as your fingerprint
Our experienced Savile Row tailors will spend time talking to you about your requirements, and advising on the wide array of styles, fabrics and weaves. Using traditional methods, unchanged for over 100 years, your dedicated tailor will take more than 40 individual measurements taking into account all of the idiosyncrasies of shape and posture.
With this information, he will return to Savile Row and cut the suit out by hand in preparation for the ‘baste’ stage – an intermediate, half-made stage – of your suit’s fitting. It is this baste stage that sets a fully bespoke suit aside from all other types of ‘made-to-measure’ tailoring.
A number of fitting sessions will follow – most usually three, but sometimes up to five – during which time significant alterations can be made to ensure that the final garment is unquestionably perfect.
In all, the process involves over 80 hours of tailoring to get to its final stage, and will take around 8 to 10 weeks to complete. Price will depend on the fabric chosen, but the typical cost of a 2-piece fully bespoke Jasper Littman suit is currently around £4,300.
The Jasper Littman Silhouette
We believe that the silhouette or ‘cut’ of a suit is an absolutely crucial factor in creating an elegant suit that will leave an impression. A good silhouette is all about balance.
Our cut has been developed and improved over many years, to create a flattering appearance whilst still adhering to the general principles of a Savile Row traditionally tailored suit.
Note the slight curve at the waist, designed to make the wearer look slimmer. The raised buttoning position and slightly narrowed lapels are also typical of a Savile Row suit; they help to draw attention to the chest, creating a more masculine profile.
It is important to remember, however, that each suit is made personally for each client, so use our guidance – but in the end, make the suit your own.
The Bespoke Process
Your first appointment
Choosing fabric and measuring
When ordering a fully bespoke suit you are measured in great detail taking into account all the idiosyncrasies of your posture. You are measured by a bespoke cutter who has years of experience on Savile Row.
It’s important that the person measuring you is the same person who will be doing the cutting. He will need to see a picture of you in his mind whilst he analyses the measurements and creates a unique pattern for you. If necessary the cutter will take a photo of the client at the first appointment.
The suit is then hand cut to your specific measurements and then hand stitched on Savile Row, but only up to the ‘baste’ stage.
This stage is what makes a bespoke suit bespoke. If your tailor claims to be making you a bespoke suit but there is no baste stage then it is not a bespoke suit. Without this stage it can only be semi-bespoke or made to measure.
A baste is a half-made suit that is not properly finished and only temporarily held together with white baste stitching. This allows it to be easily taken apart and remade. The basted garment has unfinished lapels, no buttons and no buttonholes
Your second appointment
First Fitting
At this stage you will have your first fitting and the cutter will assess the accuracy of his measurements.
The basted suit is a blueprint or ‘first draft’ of the final version and can be radically altered if necessary. The cutter will make notes and usually chalk several marks on the suit to instruct the tailors on how the suit is to be altered.
The fact that the suit is only basted together allows you the opportunity to dramatically change the style if you wish. For example, as there are no buttonholes on this garment, a decision to raise or lower the buttoning position can be easily accommodated. You also have the opportunity to narrow or widen the lapels or shoulders if you wish.
These options would not be possible on a made to measure or semi bespoke suit.
Your third appointment
Second Fitting
At the second fitting, the garment is at a more advanced stage, and maybe almost completely finished, depending on the complexity of your shape.
All of the alterations carried out by the specialist bespoke adjustment tailor will be assessed and scrutinised by the cutter.
The final adjustments will be marked up and then carried out by the tailors.
Your fourth/final appointment
Third Fitting
Depending on your shape, this may be your final fitting. If so the cutter will check that all adjustments have been made correctly, and provided you are happy with the suit it will be available for you to take home.
If further adjustments are required, the suit will be returned to the tailors until it is perfect. Our cutters are perfectionists by nature, and they will not rest until the garment meets the exacting standards required of a fully-bespoke suit.
In total, this process involves 80 to 100 hours of manual work by skilled craftsmen. This is one of the reasons why fully bespoke suits are so much more expensive that made-to-measure suits.