Before designers, big brand names, warehouse stores and suit brokers dominated the landscape, well dressed men of all stature, flocked to old world tailors who constructed custom suits cut for each individual person. As time went by and the advent of mass production became the norm, finding these master craftsmen became harder and harder. You can also find the best made-to-measure suits through the internet.
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Today a large number of Americans still wear suits, though most are ready made and available at a bevy of retailers ranging in cost from "budget" to "obscene". Americans have generally shied away from custom suits because of a misconception of exorbitant costs and pretentiousness. Especially during tough economic times, custom suits have become more a symbol of excess rather than value. While ready made suits continue to dominate the market place and fully fill the need for instant gratification, more and more consumers are beginning to see the value that custom suits, with their perfect fit and high end craftsmanship, deliver.
Today most suit retailers, as well a number of specialty companies offer a custom suit program which, like their off the rack counterpart, ranges from "budget" (Online Hong Kong Tailors can charge as low as $300 a suit) to "Obscene" (Kiton K-50 suits sell for as much as 40K!). The problem arises in the fact that most Americans have a loose definition as to what constitutes a "budget" custom suit vs an "obscene" custom suit.
In fact if you do a quick search on the internet you will find companies using terms like bespoke, custom suits, master tailor, made to measure etc. to describe their clothing, all at staggeringly differing price points.