What Happens at a Suit Fitting, Stage by Stage

People arrive at a first fitting expecting to be asked whether they like the suit. That is not really the question. The garment is not finished at that stage, so liking it is premature. What we ask is narrower: does it sit on you correctly, and where does it not. The answers are in the shoulder, the collar and the balance.

The free hour that comes first is written up in what happens at a bespoke suit consultation. This is about the fittings that follow.

How many fittings there are, and why the number is not fixed

Most commissions take about three appointments in all, counting the consultation. Some take four, a few five. Fittings are unlimited and included in the price, so the number is set by the garment rather than by a schedule. We would rather see you twice more than hand you something nearly right.

It varies because every garment here is full canvas and fully bespoke, cut from a pattern made for one person. We do not offer made-to-measure, so there is no base block quietly absorbing the difference. The pattern is the record of your body, and a fitting corrects that record.

The first fitting: a garment that is deliberately unfinished

At the first fitting the garment is part-made. It is held together loosely, the edges are unfinished, and nothing is committed. That is the point: a finished jacket cannot be opened up and moved, and a part-made one can. Some houses call this the basted fitting, after the long loose stitches holding it together. We are looking at four things, more or less in this order.

Balance. Whether the jacket hangs evenly front to back, or is pulled up at the front and dragged at the back. Almost nobody stands perfectly square, and balance is where that shows.

The shoulder. Where the seam ends relative to your own shoulder, and whether the sleeve head sits cleanly rather than bunching. It cannot be meaningfully corrected later, which is why we spend time on it now.

The collar. Whether it lies flat against the back of your neck, with no gap and no ride. A collar standing away from the neck is the commonest fault in ready-made tailoring.

Where the waist falls. Not how tight it is, but how high. A waist cut an inch too low makes a short man shorter. Moving it is a pattern change, not a nip and tuck.

What you can usefully judge, and what you cannot

You can judge comfort honestly. If you cannot reach across a desk, or the collar catches when you turn your head, or the trouser rise sits somewhere you dislike, say so. Nobody else knows.

What you cannot usefully judge is the look of the thing. The lapel is not pressed, the sleeve may sit loose, and no ironwork has shaped the cloth. It will not look like the suit you imagined, and it is not meant to. How a suit should fit covers the checks that apply to a finished garment.

What to bring, and what to wear

Two things to bring. The shoes you intend to wear with the suit, since half an inch of heel moves where the trouser breaks. And a shirt whose collar you like, so the jacket collar can be set against a real one rather than a guess. If you are not yet sure which pair belongs with the suit, what shoes to wear with a suit goes through it colour by colour.

What to wear is simpler and matters more than people expect. Fitted trousers or jeans, and a T-shirt or a well-fitted shirt. Nothing baggy, no bulky knitwear, and please not shorts. A loose sweatshirt sits between you and the cloth, and will invent a problem that is not there while hiding one that is.

How posture and stance get recorded

Some of a fitting is simply watching you stand. One shoulder is usually lower than the other. Heads carry forward in people who work at screens. Some stand with the weight back and the chest open, some with a slight round through the upper back. None of it is a defect. It is information, and it goes onto the pattern like any measurement.

Which is why we ask you to stand still and not help. The instinct is to square up and pull the shoulders back, which gives us a suit fitting a version of you that exists only in the mirror. Stand as you stand in a lift, waiting. On the measurements, how to measure yourself for a suit explains the thirty or so we take.

The final try-on, and the year that follows

The last appointment is a try-on rather than a fitting. The garment is finished, pressed and buttonholed, and we are after small things: a quarter inch of sleeve, a hem set to the shoes you brought, a waistcoat point. You wear it, walk in it and sit in it, and then it goes home.

Every garment then carries one year of complimentary alterations on work we made. Bodies move, and a jacket worn twice a week will want half an inch somewhere by month eight. That is included, and we would rather you came in. We no longer take alterations in as a separate job, and we do not work on garments made elsewhere.

Why ten minutes beats a photograph

We are asked fairly often whether a photograph in a mirror will do. It will not. A photograph flattens the one thing we need to see, which is depth: how far the collar stands off the neck, whether the shoulder rolls forward, how the back is pulled. Ten minutes standing still in front of Robb gives us front, side and back at once.

Questions we are often asked

How many fittings does a bespoke suit take?

Usually about three appointments in all, counting the first consultation. Some take four or five. Fittings are unlimited and included, so the garment sets the number.

What is a basted fitting?

The first fitting on a part-made garment, held together with long loose stitches so it can still be opened up and altered. Nothing is finished at that stage, which is what makes it useful.

What should I bring to a suit fitting?

The shoes you intend to wear with the suit, and a shirt whose collar you like. Those two settle trouser length and the set of the jacket collar.

What should I wear to a suit fitting?

Fitted trousers or jeans with a T-shirt or a well-fitted shirt. Nothing baggy and no shorts, since loose layers sit between you and the cloth.

What happens at the final try-on?

The garment is finished and pressed, and we look at the small things: sleeve length, the hem against your shoes, the last quarter inch.

Do you charge for fittings, or for alterations afterwards?

No. Fittings are unlimited and included, and every garment carries one year of complimentary alterations on work we made. We no longer take alterations in as a separate job.

Can I send a photograph instead of coming in for a fitting?

A photograph flattens depth, which is the thing a fitting exists to read, and it shows you holding a phone rather than standing as you stand. Ten minutes in the shop is worth more than any mirror picture.

How do I book a fitting, and how much notice do you need?

Book at calendly.com/info-robbp/bespoke-mr-james-fitting, or telephone 310-503-3592 if nothing on the calendar suits you. We see clients by appointment and ask for 48 hours' notice.

Coming in

We are at 221 Culver Blvd in Playa del Rey, a storefront with no suite number and free parking front and back, open Monday to Sunday by appointment. The calendar at book a fitting shows what is genuinely open, since it is kept by hand and moves week to week. If nothing on it works, telephone 310-503-3592 or write through our contact page. Prices are set out on our bespoke page.