How a bespoke measure differs from a tailor's chart.

Most clients have been measured before — at a department-store altering counter, at a wedding-suit hire shop, possibly at a school uniform fitting. Those measurements use a chart of about eight numbers: chest, waist, seat, inside leg, arm length, neck, and a couple more. They tell us which off-the-rack block to start from. They do not tell us how a garment will sit.

A bespoke measure works differently. It produces a paper pattern drawn for one person. Twenty-two measurements feed into that pattern, and the cutter watches the wearer move while taking them — how the shoulders drop, whether one is lower than the other, which way the head normally tilts when reading. Those observations matter as much as the numbers.

The numbers we take

Roughly in order, for a jacket and trouser commission:

1. Height — without shoes.
2. Chest — full circumference at the nipple line, with arms relaxed and a deep but not held breath.
3. Mid-chest — just under the armpits; tells us how the lapel will set.
4. Waist — natural waist, not where the trousers will sit (we record both).
5. Seat — the fullest part of the hip.
6. Half-back — from spine to outer shoulder bone; tells us the back width.
7. Shoulder width — bone to bone across the top of the shoulders.
8. Shoulder slope — not a number, an observation, but it shapes the entire jacket.
9. Sleeve length — taken from the shoulder bone to the wrist, with the arm slightly bent.
10. Bicep — for the sleeve width.
11. Wrist — for the cuff opening.
12. Front length — nape of neck to natural waist, down the front.
13. Back length — nape of neck to natural waist, down the back.
14. Across-front — armpit to armpit across the front.
15. Across-back — armpit to armpit across the back.
16. Neck — at the base, where the collar will sit.
17. Trouser rise — how high or low the waistband will sit, with confirmation of the wearer’s preference.
18. Inside leg — from crotch to heel, with the shoes the trousers will most often be worn with.
19. Outside leg — waistband to hem.
20. Thigh — at the widest point.
21. Knee — for the line of the leg.
22. Hem opening — depending on whether the trousers cuff or break.

The four that ready-to-wear ignores

Department-store charts almost never record any of these:

• Shoulder slope, asymmetric or not. Most people’s shoulders are not level, and almost no off-the-rack jacket compensates.
• Posture — whether you stand straight, lean slightly forward, or carry your head ahead of your shoulders. We cut the back length accordingly.
• Blade prominence — the angle of the shoulder blades changes how the back drapes. We watch you walk during the measure to see this.
• Wrist-to-thumb position — tells us how far the sleeve cuff should sit from the shirt cuff at rest. Most clients find their first bespoke sleeve length sits about 2cm shorter than they are used to.

What we record besides numbers

Each client’s notebook page also carries shorthand observations: "left shoulder 1cm low", "slight forward head carry, lengthen back length 0.5", "prominent calf, trouser hem to fall straight". These notes are what allow the second commission for a returning client to start without re-measuring — we already know how you stand.

Why we re-measure every year

Bodies change. Even a 3kg shift across a year, gained or lost, alters the chest measurement enough to affect the jacket fit. We take a fresh set of measurements at the consultation for any commission begun more than a year after the last. It takes ten extra minutes; it spares an unhappy garment.

What you can do beforehand

Two small things, if you have time:

• Wear a fitted shirt (not a tee) on the day, so we can read your torso clearly.
• Bring the shoes you most often wear with suits. Sole height changes the trouser break.

That is it. The rest of the measure is our job, and we have done it enough times that you don’t need to do anything other than stand naturally.

— The Novablox cutting table.