A suit normally takes two to three fittings: a first where the garment is deliberately incomplete and the shape is still open, a second where the corrections are checked on your body, and a final one where the finished garment is confirmed and only small things can still move. Knowing which stage you are at is what tells you when to speak up. The whole sequence as we run it is set out in how a fitting works here.
The first fitting
The first fitting is not a preview. The garment will look unfinished, and it is meant to — sleeves may be tacked on rather than set, the collar may be loose, edges may be raw, and there may be chalk and coloured basting thread all over it. None of that is a sign anything is wrong.
What the tailor is doing is reading how the garment sits on your actual body rather than on the measurements. They are looking at the balance front to back, whether the collar hugs the neck, where the shoulder line falls, how the sleeve hangs relative to how your arms hang, and whether the waist is in the right place for your proportions rather than the pattern’s.
You will be asked to stand normally, which is harder than it sounds — most people stand to attention in front of a mirror and that is not the posture the suit has to work in. Stand as you actually stand. Walk a few steps. Sit down if offered.
This is the stage where substantial change is cheap, so it is the stage to be honest at. Measurements taken beforehand help here rather than replacing it, and how to measure for a suit explains which ones are worth bringing.
The second fitting
By the second fitting the corrections from the first have been made and the garment is much closer to finished. Sleeves are set, the collar is attached, and the shape is largely decided.
What is being checked now is whether the corrections worked. A shoulder that was adjusted is looked at again under the same conditions. The waist suppression is confirmed. Trouser length and break are marked against the shoes you brought. Sleeve length is set so the right amount of shirt cuff shows.
Changes at this stage are still real but narrower: seams can move, lengths can change, the trouser can be reshaped. What is closing off is anything structural — the shoulder line, the lapel, the fundamental balance. If something about the shape has been bothering you since the first fitting, this is the last comfortable moment to say so.
The final fitting
The final fitting is a confirmation rather than a working session. The garment is finished, pressed and lined, and you try it on to check it is right before it leaves.
What can still change: hem lengths, a slight taper, a button position, a small adjustment at the waist. What cannot: anything requiring the garment to be taken apart. That is not obstruction, it is arithmetic — undoing a finished, pressed jacket to move a structural line is most of the work of building a new one.
Bring the shirt and shoes you will actually wear. Look at it in a full-length mirror from the side and the back, not just the front, because the back is where balance faults show and the side is where the trouser break is judged.
What to say, and when
Say everything at the first fitting, lengths at the second, and nothing new at the third. Most people say “it’s fine” because they do not know what is still open.
- At the first fitting, say anything. Nothing is fixed. If the jacket feels short, the waist feels high, the shoulders feel wide or you simply do not like how it looks, that is the moment. It costs nothing to change now and a great deal later.
- Describe the feeling, not the fix. “It pulls when I reach forward” is more useful than “make the back bigger”. Tailors diagnose from symptoms; a prescribed solution can send them to the wrong cause.
- Say where and when it bothers you. Sitting, driving, reaching, arms down. A garment can be correct standing still and wrong in the position you will actually wear it in.
- Raise anything about length at the second fitting. Sleeve, jacket and trouser lengths are set here against real shoes. After this they move by centimetres, not by inches.
- Never say yes to be polite. A tailor would far rather have the conversation now than have you dislike the suit quietly for a decade. Silence at a fitting is the most expensive thing in the process.
- At the final fitting, ask what can still be changed. A straight answer names limits. That answer tells you what to raise now and what to accept.
What to wear to a fitting
Four things, and the first is the one first-timers forget.
- The shoes you will wear with the suit. Trouser length is marked against a specific heel height and cannot be finalised without one. This is the thing first-timers most often forget.
- A shirt of the right collar and cuff. Sleeve length is set relative to the shirt cuff, so a t-shirt makes that measurement a guess.
- Ordinary underwear and the belt you would wear. Both change the trouser waist by more than you would expect.
- Nothing in your pockets. A phone or a wallet distorts the drape exactly where the waist is being judged.
How long each takes
The measuring session is the long one and the final fitting is the short one; the two in between are working sessions rather than fixed appointments.
| Appointment | What happens | Roughly |
|---|---|---|
| Measuring and cloth | Around twenty measurements, posture noted, cloth and details chosen | Longest of the appointments |
| First fitting | Garment tried in an unfinished state; shape decided | A working session |
| Second fitting | Corrections checked; lengths marked | Shorter |
| Final fitting | Finished garment confirmed | Shortest of the appointments |
The elapsed time matters more than the appointment time. Most pieces are ready in 24 to 48 hours over two to three fittings, and the constraint is the space between appointments rather than the sewing. We do not publish a different high-season turnaround, so ask when you enquire — a garment has to be worked on between one fitting and the next. That is why the number of days you have decides more than anything else, and it is worked through in how long a tailored suit takes. How many fittings a given tier includes, and what is charged beyond them, is set out in what a garment costs here.