Your first made-to-measure suit: a complete guide

A first commission should be useful before it is interesting. Buy the suit you will wear most, not the one that photographs best in the bunch.

Start with the occasion

Work out where the suit will spend most of its life — office, weddings, evenings, or all three. If it must do everything, that decides most of the following choices for you.

Colour

• Navy: the most useful single suit, at ease everywhere.
• Charcoal: more formal, the stronger choice if your work is serious and traditional.
• Leave black, bold checks and strong stripes for later commissions.

Cloth

A 280–320g English worsted in a plain weave will serve all year in a British climate. High-twist cloths shed creases if you travel or sit at a desk all day. Save flannel, linen and tweed for the second or third garment.

Cut and details

• Two-button single-breasted, notch lapels, side vents.
• A jacket length and lapel width that will still look right in ten years.
• Trousers with a rise that sits where your waist actually is.
• Consider a waistcoat or spare trousers — both extend the suit's working life.

Budget and timing

From £1,199 for a two-piece, with cloth the main variable. Allow 4–6 weeks, and three to four months if it is for a wedding.

What to bring to the appointment

• The shoes you expect to wear with the suit.
• A shirt that fits you properly.
• Photographs of tailoring you like, and of anything you dislike.
• An honest account of what has gone wrong with suits you have owned.

After you collect it

Hang it on a broad hanger, brush it after wearing, rest it a day or two between outings and dry clean rarely. Looked after, a first made-to-measure suit will still be in the rotation long after the shop suits have gone.