Quote Originally Posted by MacBean View Post

My conclusion: you may not be able to draw any general conclusions about bespoke, because bespoke varies so much! But I can guess you are still hankering after a montrose?
What I am hankering after most is the physique that makes off-the-peg perfectly acceptable. I am very pleased to have a lovely Montrose made in a cotton fabric somewhere between velvet and alcantara. I do wish it were just a touch less glove-like in its fit. In my youth I did not have the protruding middle of middle age. Perhaps as old age comes, the gut may go...

What I still hope to hear more of is the increase in quality (like that additional 2 or 3 % we always heard about in stereo speakers that cost about twice as much) that only custom tailoring can bring. I think you touch on that, MacBean, when you talk about your doublet that was made for someone else. To borrow MoR's analogy, a custom bodied car is unique, even if the present owner did not originally commission the body. And a bespoke garment's superior quality goes beyond the way it fit its original owner.

I must add, my dear sweet mother made my blue Montrose and I would treasure it for that reason alone. Unfortunately, even her considerable skills and experience only got us so far and there are things I would hope to have in a 1000 pound doublet that I do not have in my very nice one.

I am also eager to hear more from people who wanted something that was just not available elsewhere in the marketplace. Josh of Skye Highland Outfitters (Our Own NorCal Piper) kindly had his doublet maker build my red PC to my measurements, but neither Josh nor his tailor ever saw me and my disappointing physique. I like the PC and it fits me well- don't get me wrong- but it is MTM, not bespoke. It was surprisingly affordable and it draws favorable comment when I wear it.

Surely there is someone with a Hong Kong Tailor story, or maybe a Middle Eastern one- some adventurer who had the good fortune to meet an accommodating tailor in some far flung corner and brought back a real gem- or maybe a real disappointment, I don't know...