“I’ve paid good money to have this made to measure, so it’ll last me a lifetime, won’t it? Decades, surely?”
I hear this all the time while I’m taking a customer’s measurements in the shop. A made-to-measure suit looks far better than anything off the peg, and it hugs your body as if it were part of you. I completely understand why you’d want to believe that.
But after twenty years in clothing, and all the suits I’ve seen pass through my hands as a tailor, I always give the honest answer.
“Being made to measure does not mean a suit will last for years without any care. That simply never happens.”
Of course, because it fits you properly, there’s less pulling and less needless rubbing on the cloth, so it’s true that a made-to-measure suit tends to outlast an off-the-peg suit in the wrong size.
But if you never look after it, or you wear it day after day without a break, even the finest tailoring will reach the end of its life in no time. That goes for any piece of clothing, not just suits.
So today I want to give you the honest view from the shop floor: the truth about how long a suit really lasts, which so many people get wrong, and the difference between British and Italian cloth culture, which has a lot to do with how many years your suit will give you.
Even If You Treat It Well, Two Walls Arrive After Five to Eight Years
“I only wear it once or twice a month, and I take good care of it.” Even customers who say this will almost certainly hit a wall somewhere between five and eight years after the suit was made.
Two walls, in fact: how current the design looks, and how your body changes.
1. However Clean It Is, It Starts to Look Dated
The suit is a classic garment, but with each era the width of the lapels, the height of the gorge line (the notch where collar meets lapel), where the waist is shaped and the balance of the jacket length all shift, millimetre by millimetre. Even if the cloth hasn’t worn through, put on a suit from seven or eight years ago today and you can’t avoid that nagging feeling that the silhouette belongs to another time.
2. The Human Body Doesn’t Stay the Same Size
In five years you might gain or lose a few kilos, take up the gym, or find that age has changed things around your middle and across your back. And precisely because a made-to-measure suit was cut perfectly to your body, even a small change in your shape means it no longer gives you that clean line it once did, it starts to feel tight, and you find yourself wanting the next one.
Mind you, some customers do bring in a suit and tell me, “You made this for me ten years ago, and I still wear it!” As a tailor, there’s no happier moment than that. I’m genuinely grateful every time. But the people who can wear a suit for ten years are the very few who have somehow kept the same figure and never neglected its care.
How Long a Suit Lasts Can Depend on Which Country the Cloth Comes From
There’s one more thing that has a big say in how many years a suit will last: where the cloth was woven, Britain or Italy.
Britain and Italy are the two great sources of cloth for made-to-measure suits, and in fact they’re complete opposites: in how the cloth is made, in the kind of beauty they’re aiming for, and in their whole culture.
British Cloth: Toughness Born of a Cold Climate, Made to Last and Be Handed Down
Britain is a chilly place, cool all year round with plenty of grey skies and rain. So British cloth is made to keep out the cold: it has a good, heavy cloth weight (the weight of the fabric per metre) and a very dense weave.
- Character: Crisp and full of body, so it resists creasing. It feels substantial in the hand.
- Tailoring: A sharp, structured silhouette, built up with proper shoulder pads and canvassing.
- Colours and patterns: Traditional, serious tones such as quiet navy, dark grey and understated stripes.
Britain has a wonderful, long-standing culture of looking after good things, using them for years, and passing them down from parent to child, to the next generation. That’s exactly why, if you choose British cloth and give it a proper brushing and time to rest, it becomes a tough companion that will barely flinch for a decade or more.
Italian Cloth: Allure Born of a Warm Sun, Made to Look Its Best Right Now
Italy, on the other hand, sits in the warm, sun-drenched south of Europe. Reflecting that warmer climate, Italian cloth is woven in pursuit of something light, thin and breathtakingly lustrous.
- Character: Made from extremely fine wool yarns (Super 130s and the like), it is smooth as silk and falls in a soft, fluid drape that moves with you.
- Tailoring: Soft, natural tailoring with as little shoulder padding as possible, so it moulds to your body.
- Colours and patterns: Wonderfully vivid. Bright navy, browns and beautifully judged checks, with all the allure you’d expect from the home of fashion.
Italian suit culture cares less about making a suit last ten years and more about this: the moment you slip it on, how sexy and how stylish does it make you look? Just put it on and you give off a presence that turns heads.
The catch is that because the yarns are so fine and delicate, it is inevitably weaker against friction and hard daily wear. Wear it on heavy rotation and the thighs and elbows will wear through that much sooner.
The Verdict: It’s Not About Which Is Better, but What You Want from Your Suit
“So British cloth is the right answer, because it lasts longer?” Not at all.
- If you’re a businessman who’s always out on your feet, travels a lot for work, and simply wants one suit to keep going for years: choose British cloth and it will hold its shape and be a dependable ally.
- If you want to look more striking and more alluring than anyone else at a party, a business dinner or that all-important presentation: the superb lustre and comfort of Italian cloth is a weapon nothing else can match.
Rather than blindly believing that a made-to-measure suit will last forever, understand what each suit is for: where you’ll wear it and how you want it to present you, and choose the cloth with that in mind. Then give it the care that suits its character, with regular brushing and proper rest between wears.
That, to me, is what truly makes a suit your own. It’s simply part of being a grown man who dresses well.
So which is it for you: the British toughness that stays by your side for ten years, or the Italian allure that makes you shine right now?
If you can’t decide, do come to L’ECRIN in Sasa and feel the cloth for yourself. From the difference in weight and smoothness the moment you touch it, we’ll find the one suit that is truly meant for you, together.
Related reading
Why Moths Only Eat Your Most Expensive Suit: A Tailor’s Guide to Making a Suit Last Without Spending a Penny
Why a Suit I Made Six Years Ago Still Looks Superb: Ignore the Trends, Find Your Own Style, and Why I Don’t Recommend Slim Suits
The Myth of the “All-Season” Suit: What Cloth Weight Really Tells You, and the Art of the Summer Waistcoat
A suit made to your measurements
Sleeves, trouser hem, jacket length, shoulders and arms are all cut to your own body, not a size chart. Fittings are by appointment only. Tell us the dates you are in Japan and we will propose a time.
