How a Master Tailor Crafts One Suit For Life

When making a suit, there are literally thousands

of different cloths, styles and cuts to choose from.

But if I had to pick one suit, the only suit I could have

for the rest of my life,

it would be the one that I'm wearing right now.

My name's Ian Meiers owner

of the UK's largest bespoke tailor,

and I'm about to break down why.

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Let's start by talking about the materials in this suit,

starting with cloth type.

The cloth that you choose is gonna determine

how the suit drapes, how much shape we can build into it,

and how well the suit is gonna breathe.

This is a linen suit.

It comes from the flax plant,

and the great thing about it is it's super lightweight,

is super breathable and perfect for a hot environment.

Cotton is another option, which also comes from a plant.

The problem with plant-based fibers is

that the underlying fiber creases

and bends easier, which is why you

get the wrinkling on the suit.

Luxury cloths like vicuna, mohair,

and cashmere, all come from animals.

When we're looking at super fine hairs,

we're talking about the micron diameter of the hair

and the finer the hairs, the more luxurious,

the softer the cloth is gonna be.

So with cashmeres, you're getting down to some

of the finest hairs in the world,

and with a vicuna,

you are literally picking up the finest hair on the planet,

which gives a soft, beautiful finish to the garment.

However, because the fibers are so thin,

they don't have the rigidity

and resilience of a thicker fiber,

so they're not gonna last as long.

For my suit, I chose merino wool.

Merino wool comes from merino sheep,

typically produced in Australia,

and that breed of sheep is fame for its thick fleece

with very fine hairs.

It makes for a suit that wears well, that lasts well,

but it also extremely breathable

and it's good for most climates.

It's gonna keep you warmer in the winter

and wick away some of the heat in the summer.

It's also incredibly crease resistant.

You're not gonna have to worry as much about wrinkles.

All in all merino wool breathe well,

lasts well, and drapes well.

Cloth origin.

The country the cloth is made in can have a big impact on

the quality, the finish, and the style.

Although wool cloth can be made in many countries,

the three main producers are China, Italy, and the UK.

Although Chinese cloth is exported to many markets

around the world, the primary purpose is

to supply the factories

that manufacturing millions of garments a year.

So the main emphasis

behind Chinese cloth production is on quantity

and price, not necessarily on quality.

The jacket here is made from Italian cloth

and like the people of Italy, it looks fantastic.

It has a great luster to it.

It has a great drape to it, and it has a beautiful finish.

But the downside to Italian cloth is that it tends not

to have the same body that other cloth might have.

It looks great, it feels great,

but it doesn't have the longevity

and the durability of the cloth that I'm looking

for for my suit.

The cloth I ended up using for this suit is British.

Most of the cloth in the UK is made in the north

of England in a county called Yorkshire.

The cloth tends to have a bit more body,

a bit more grit to it.

So typically you'll find some

of the yarns will be a two-ply yarn.

They'll tend to make it with a little more weight

and they'll make it with less of a luster.

Something that's got more of a matte finish,

that's gonna be perfect for something

that I want to use for the rest of my life.

Super number.

The super number refers to the micron diameter

of the hair going into the yarn that makes the cloth.

Now, the higher the number, the finer the hair

and finer hairs make more luxurious cloths.

So one thing to be mindful of is the misconception

that a higher super number means a better suit.

This cloth is a super two hundreds, which means it's 15

and a half micron, 15 and a half millionths of a meter.

It's super fine, it's super soft, it's super luxury,

but the problem is it's not gonna last so well.

That's why for my suit, I've chosen a super one hundreds.

It's got luxurious feel.

It's got a great drape to it,

but it's also gonna have the durability

and stability that I want for a clean looking suit

that's gonna last a long time.

Lining material,

a suit lining goes inside of the jacket

and it gives you greater movability

so your shirt doesn't catch against the cloth.

The three most popular lining materials are ezines,

couros, and silks.

An ezine lining is made from fibers

that are extracted from wood pulp.

It makes a very strong, very breathable,

very lightweight lining, but it lacks the great finish

or luster that some of the other materials offer.

Silk has a great luster to it and a great finish.

The problem is though it doesn't breathe very well,

and it's not as durable as the other options.

The lining I went with is a cupro.

Now a cupro is made from a cotton and wood pulp,

and it produces a very luxurious, fine finish to it

with a great luster, but still a good breathability.

And although it's not quite as strong as an ezine,

it has a much richer, beautiful finish,

which is why I wanted it inside of my jacket.

Cloth weight, cloth could be made light, medium,

or heavyweight.

Lightweight cloth is great

because it's light, it's breathable,

and it's comfortable in warm environments.

The downside to it though is it doesn't drape as well.

You don't get such a clean looking suit

and it's not gonna last as long.

Heavyweight cloth is gonna be the most durable cloth.

It's gonna last longer, it's gonna hold shape better.

The downside to it though is in a warm environment,

it's not very comfortable to wear.

If I'm gonna have one suit for the rest of my life,

a midway cloth is gonna offer me the most versatility

throughout the four seasons of the year,

it's gonna be breathable to an extent,

it's gonna have durability and it's gonna drape well.

It really is the best of both worlds.

Button type.

The buttons are really a key finishing touch to the suit.

If you get the choice of button matching the cloth well,

the suit's gonna look fantastic.

If you don't, it's really gonna take away from the

overall finish of the suit.

So this is a button card that I'll typically show

to a client once we pick the cloth and the style options.

It shows horn, mother of pearl leather and metal buttons.

A metal button can give you a really distinct look

for a separate basar or a jacket.

It can be a good option,

but it's not so popular for most people.

You can cover a button in the cloth

so it matches the material that the suit has been made in.

We use this typically in formal wear

where you're having a lapel to match the buttons,

but typically you're gonna have a button that contrasts

to the cloth that you're using.

A mother Appel button offers a really

stylized look to a jacket.

It has a lot of luster, it has a lot of shine to it,

and it can offer a high level of contrast

to the material that you're using.

So if you a stand out piece,

sometimes another appel button can work well.

Another option is to have a button made from corozo,

which is a type of nut.

It offers a very matte finish

and an alternative distinct from other buttons.

What most luxury suits will be made from is an animal horn.

You can make it from a cow horn.

The problem is it's a little brittle,

so most people would tend to use a buffalo horn depending on

what part of the horn it comes from,

we'll determine the color of that button.

Lighter colors like the ones here are taken from the tip

and the outside of the horn.

The darker buttons are taken from the inside.

There's a variation of gradualization of the colors that go

through, which allow us to pick buttons

that match perfectly to the client's cloth.

My buttons are a black buffalo horn with a very tiny flick

of brown running through it.

I pick this because it matches the cloth perfectly

and allows me to wear both brown

and black shoes with the suit, with the materials done.

Let's move on to style.

Starting with color.

The color of the suit will determine its personality,

its formality and its versatility, to my right,

we have a gray suit.

Now, a gray suit is the most formal of all business suits.

It's relatively easy to match ties and shirts with,

and it's a staple in many people's wardrobes,

but it can be just a little bit boring.

Now, here we have a black dinner suit,

or as it's called in America, a tuxedo.

Now, although you can use a black cloth for a business suit,

it's very formal, so we recommend it that you keep it

for occasions like weddings and funerals.

To my left, we have a brown suit.

Now the oranges of a brown suit come in country wear,

although today we're finding more

and more people wearing them for business.

And also in the city,

however, it tends to be a little more casual

and might not fit in so well in more formal environments.

Over here we have a green suit, super popular at the moment,

a really fun alternative to some of the other colors,

and we see a lot of weddings

and a lot of people looking for a stylized option,

going for a green suit.

The downside though, that as with the brown, it lacks some

of the formality of the other options.

For my suit, I've decided to go with a navy blue.

The beauty of a navy suit is it's the most versatile

of all of the colors.

You can dress it up.

I could wear this as a three piece blue suit,

or I could wear it as a jacket with a pair of jeans

or anywhere in between.

It's easy to match with different skin tones,

and it also offers a level

of formality without moving into black, it has some interest

to it, whereas a gray doesn't.

It holds formality, whereas a green and brown doesn't.

So if one suit for the rest of my life,

it's always gonna be in a navy blue.

Lining style.

When picking a lining, your first decision is to go

with a pattern or do I go with a plane?

A pattern lining gives you a chance

to really personalize your suit.

You can have some fun inside.

You can put some character inside the suit

rather than the outside.

You could have a paisley, you could have a

poker dot, you could have a stripe.

You could even take a photograph and print it on a lining

and put it inside your jacket.

But putting a pattern lining

inside your suit is a very distinct option.

What I like today, I might not like in a few years time.

So for that reason, I suggest sticking

with a more simple option.

When it comes to plain linings, you have a ton of options.

You could go with something bright, something bold,

something super interesting,

or you can go with something more conservative

that either matches or just has a gentle

contrast to the cloth that you're choosing.

These often aren't such a statement as a pattern one

and withstand the test of time better.

For my suit, I've gone with a plain blue lining

that contrasts to the cloth,

so it adds some character to it.

It's actually a shot, which means it's made up

of two different color yarns.

It has a blue and a silver running through it

that adds some interesting characters

to the lining without being overpowering.

It also has a nice iridescence

that adds some personality to the lining.

I chose to go with a lining that had some contrast.

If I just matched the navy blue

or the cloth, then it would look a little

dull, a little boring.

If I go too bright and too far out,

it can look a little obnoxious.

So I like to have something considered that's different,

that's interesting, but not over the top.

Number of buttons.

When it comes to buttons, you need to decide, first of all,

if you're gonna go with a single breasted suit

or a double breasted suit.

There are a number of things to think about

when considering this.

A double breasted suit can look great.

It's a stylized piete, although very traditional.

Now, when it's cut well

and it's well fitted, it can look actually modern

and a great kind of stylized piece for a client to wear.

Double breasted means there's a wrap

at the front of the jacket.

Now what do I mean by wrap?

On a single breasted,

there's only a very small wrap.

So the front of the left panel goes over the right panel,

just a small amount, on the double breasted,

we're cutting much more cloth over the front.

So you'll see the front extend here and on the inside,

and that gives you the look of the double breasted suit.

The downside to a double breasted suit though is

that you really need to wear it done up

for it to hang properly.

So that limits the versatility of the jacket.

Single breasted is gonna be the go-to styling

for most clients.

It's easy to wear, it looks good, it's comfortable to wear,

and you can wear it both buttoned up or unbuttoned.

With a single breasted jacket, you're typically gonna choose

between a three, a two or one button jacket.

A two buttoned jacket is really a staple.

You're gonna see a lot of people on the street wearing this.

It's easy to wear.

It looks good,

and one thing to note is the second button

should never be done up.

As you can see with both buttons done up here,

it creates a straightness to the jacket

and a boxiness to the jacket.

There's a tailor I don't want, I undo this now.

You can see the fronts have been naturally cut

to taper away a little bit, and that creates more shape

and a more elegant finish to the jacket.

So you should never have both buttons done up.

So a good question is why do we have two buttons if we don't

do the second button up?

The answer is, it's there for aesthetic,

and you don't have to have it there.

You don't need it there, which is why on my jacket,

I've gone with a one button.

Now, the things I like about a one button is it creates a

long open run, a very clean look to the jacket.

I also cut this button perhaps a fraction lower than I do

with a two button at the top button,

and it creates a longer V which gives a longer run.

And again, we're creating shape.

We're creating a nice run through a jacket,

and I think one button, if you're gonna have one suit

for the rest of your life, is the way to go.

Lapel shape.

On a single breasted jacket,

one of the biggest style options you're gonna make is

whether you have a notch lapel, peak lapel or shawl lapel.

Here on my right, we have a beautiful

cashmere black watch tartan jacket

with a very stylized wide Shaw lapel.

It adds a lot of interest to the jacket,

but it tends to be reserved really for formal wear.

You're gonna see this on tuxedos and smoking jackets.

You're not gonna see this

with someone walking into the office

or down the street on a regular workday.

On my left, we have a Pete lapel jacket.

A Pete lapel here refers to the points that are coming up.

It adds a certain flamboyance to the jacket, a little bit

of interest to it, and it should be one

of the jackets you have in a rotation.

But if you're gonna have one suit for the rest of your life,

Pete Lapel just stands out a little bit too much,

and that's why I'm gonna go with a notch lapel on my jacket.

A notch lapel is really the classic on any

single breasted jacket.

It's the regular one that you'll see most of the time.

It's easy to wear.

It doesn't look too flamboyant,

it doesn't look too informal either.

It's always gonna look good.

It's always gonna fit in, and you can't go wrong with it.

Pocket style.

When you're looking at jacket pockets,

you've got three main options to consider.

The first is a patch pocket.

Now you tend to see this a more casual,

more stylized pieces.

So a jacket perhaps with a softer shoulder, less structure

to it works well with a patch pocket.

It's interesting, and if you want to pair that

with more casual trousers

or a pair of jeans, then it's a great option.

But if we're gonna have one suit for the rest of our life,

we need to go something a little more formal.

The other option is a straight pocket.

Now this is your bog standard pocket

that you're gonna see on most jackets.

It's totally fine, it's totally acceptable.

There's nothing wrong with it, but there's nothing

exciting about it either.

So for me, I recommend a slanted pocket

and a slanted pocket,

one is what you see on higher end suits.

It offers a more stylized interesting piece.

And the other thing is it accentuates the line.

So as a tailor, we're creating shape in a jacket,

we're creating a chest and a wasting,

and then we skirt out towards the seat,

and those slant pockets will follow that line.

And it accentuates the look

of the tailored suit on the jacket.

One button slant pocket creates a very sleek

and elegant line to a suit.

There is also something called a ticket pocket.

In the mid-1800s people started catching the train

to work, and they needed a place to put their ticket,

so the ticket pocket was invented.

It's an extra third small pocket that sits

above the right hand pocket,

typically on the right hand side,

and it offers a place to put a ticket,

or now as no one uses a ticket, it's just a stylized piece

that adds a little extra detail to it.

It's fun to have some clients like it on there, a little bit

of extra interest, for me,

I prefer the cleanliness

of not having the extra pocket there.

Flower buttonhole.

On the lapel of a jacket, you'll typically see a buttonhole,

and this is what we call a flower buttonhole or boutonniere.

Its origins come from the military

where a soldier will want to keep himself

protective in the elements.

They'd literally put the lapels up.

There would be a button on the underside of this lapel,

and it would allow them to do it up.

We aren't wearing these in the military anymore these days,

so it is become more of an aesthetic

and more of a piece of interest on the suit.

And it has some practical function.

If you want to wear a flower than

you could put a flower through it.

So we'd always want to a working button hole here.

And underneath the lapel,

we do a handmade little loop in our suits,

which would allow you to rest the

stem of the flower through there.

I nearly always recommend a buttonhole on there.

I think it would a little strange without it.

Trousers.

When it comes to trousers, my personal preference is

for a clean, simple styling.

One of the key options you'll have to make on a pair

of trousers is if we have it with pleats or without pleats.

Now, pleats are designed to put extra cloth into

the front of the trousers.

They can look quite traditional, they can look quite fun,

but fundamentally, you're adding more cloth in there.

So for most clients, I'm gonna recommend having it without

pleats and get a cleaner, more simple look.

When it comes to a well-fitted suit,

you typically wouldn't have a belt on it.

If you're wearing a belt, it shows your tail is no good.

The trousers should fit you.

The belt will cut your body in half

and break up the line running through the body.

It also detracts from the attention of the suit

and puts it onto the belt.

So typically, a suit would have a side adjuster on it,

and this gives a very clean, open, run through the front,

and it gives you the ability just to take in a little bit,

should you lose a little bit of weight

or want to pull it up through the day.

Turnups or cuffs, as they're called in America,

are additional cloth are the bottom

of the trousers that are rolled up.

They're stylized, but a bit more casual,

so I prefer to go without them.

And finally, you need to think about the back

pockets in your trousers.

You have choices of both back pockets on the left

and right side, one back pocket on either side

or no back pockets.

If you're gonna use your back pockets to keep your wallet

or phone, then obviously you need one.

But for me, you should keep those.

Any phones or wallets in your breast, pockets

of your jacket, the space in here built in there,

so you can put it in, for me, a clean, very well-fitted pair

of trousers is the best option.

For that reason, I recommend having no back pockets.

That's it for style.

Let's move on to fit.

The most important thing of any suit is the fit of the suit

beyond the materials, beyond the styling of it.

If you see someone walking down the road

that looks super sharp, it's

because their suit is really well fitted.

The suits you see here are ready to wear,

which means they're made to a set size.

So you can go into a store, pick them off the rack,

and walk away with 'em that day.

The two main benefits of a ready to wear suit are one

that tends to be a little cheaper than a tailored suit,

and two, that you can get it quicker.

But the fundamental issue is that suit hasn't been made

to your body shape, so it's never gonna be the perfect fit,

and you're never gonna let your best in it.

For that, I recommend going Bespoke.

Bespoke Tailoring.

This is my colleague Michael, who's wearing a Bespoke suit.

Bespoke Tailoring is a process

where you create a unique suit individual for that client.

We're looking at shoulder shape.

We're looking at body posture.

We're looking at chest position.

We're looking at the client's stomach.

We're looking at the client's seat.

We're looking at things like sleeve pitch.

So if a client's arms are forwards

or backwards, we have

to rotate the sleeve to fit that client.

So there's a multitude of little things

that go into creating a perfect suit.

The key benefit of a Bespoke suit is

that you're gonna have a ton of shape.

You're gonna have a really elegant aesthetic while

still being comfortable.

Another thing to think about

with a handmade suit is longevity.

If you're making by hand, it's designed

to last for a long time.

If you're making by machine is often machined

and glued together, the glue can come apart,

and we would never put that inside one of our suits.

All we have is a full canvas inside.

So everything floats, it moves, it breathes

and it's sewn in so there's nothing can come apart.

It's true that Bespoke suits cost more than custom made

to measure ready to wear.

But if you're gonna have one suit for the rest of your life,

I really recommend going Bespoke.

So that's it.

Every decision I made to have the one suit

that I need for the rest of my life.

What a lot of tailoring comes down to personal taste.

There are definitely choices you can make to ensure

that you'll be wearing this suit for many years to come.