Three ways to buy a jacket
Ready to wear is cut for an average body and finished before anyone knows who will buy it. It is fast and it is the cheapest way in, but the fit is a compromise you then pay an alterations tailor to argue with.
Made to measure starts from a house pattern and adjusts it to your measurements. The shoulder, chest, waist, rise and length are yours. The house block gives you consistency; your measurements give you the fit.
Bespoke draws a pattern from nothing, for you alone, usually across several fittings over a longer period. It is the most precise and the slowest.
Which one you need
Most men do not need bespoke. They need a garment whose shoulder sits where their shoulder sits, whose sleeve ends where it should, and whose trouser rise is not fighting them. Made to measure solves all three, and it solves them in weeks rather than months.
Bespoke earns its place when a body sits well outside standard proportion, or when someone wants to specify every internal detail. For a first serious jacket, made to measure is almost always the right answer.
What actually changes the fit
- The shoulder. The one thing that cannot be fixed afterwards. It should end naturally, with no visible ridge.
- The chest and waist. Enough room to move and to sit; enough shape that the jacket does not hang.
- The trouser rise. Underrated, and the difference between a trouser that sits and one that slides.
- The length. A jacket should cover the seat rather than finish cropped.
How SALVE does it
There is no shop to visit. A cutter comes to your home or office in Gurugram with swatch books and finished garments, takes eighteen measurements once, and leaves. The garment is basted by hand so that the fitting at day eight can still change anything, and it is delivered on day fourteen.
Your measurements stay on file. A second commission needs no second measuring visit.
What it costs
Price depends on the cloth and the cut, and the cutter prices both at the table. There is no deposit to book an appointment.