Made-to-Order vs. Made-to-Measure vs. Basted Garment vs. Bespoke: What Do All the Buzzwords Mean?
There are a lot of tailoring buzzwords, and unfortunately, there is considerable inconsistency in how different companies use terms such as made-to-order, made-to-measure, basted garment, and bespoke. The biggest difference often comes down to one thing: how the pattern is created and how much control the tailor has over the fit.
Made-to-Order
Made-to-order typically begins with an existing pattern or block. The client selects the fabric, lining, lapel style, buttons, and other design details, so the experience can feel highly customized. However, the underlying pattern generally has limitations.
Important aspects of fit—such as shoulder slope, posture and the balance between the front, middle and back panels of a jacket—may have limited adjustability. A man with a prominent chest, for example, may require more cloth and shape through the front panel, while someone with a larger back may require a completely different balance.
At Empire Customs, we do not offer made-to-order suits.
Made-to-Measure — Starting at $1,200+
Our made-to-measure process is considerably more involved than simply modifying a standard size. We create an individualized, bespoke-style pattern based on each client’s measurements and body profile, accounting for posture, shoulder slope, stance, proportions and silhouette balance before the garment is cut.
For the vast majority of clients, this provides an exceptional fit while maintaining an efficient process and timeline.
Basted Garment Process — Starting at $1,700+
For body profiles requiring additional refinement, we can create a trial garment in inexpensive cloth before cutting the final fabric. This allows us to physically evaluate and refine shoulder expression, posture, drape, balance and silhouette.
Full Bespoke — Starting at $3,200+
Our full bespoke process is the most traditional and labour-intensive option. A completely unique paper pattern is drafted from scratch, with the garment progressively shaped and refined through multiple fittings.
More fittings and a higher price do not automatically make a process necessary for every client. We generally recommend basted or full bespoke only when we believe the additional steps will meaningfully improve the final result.
Choosing the Right Fabric for Your Custom Wedding Suit
Choosing the right fabric is one of the most important parts of designing a custom wedding suit. At Empire Customs, our suits range from approximately $1,200 to $4,000+, with excellent options at every price point. Many grooms find their perfect fabric at $1,200, while others have specific aesthetic or performance requirements that lead them into more premium collections.
For a classic wedding suit, 100% wool is an excellent starting point. Traditional worsted wools can have a subtle natural sheen, while matte-finish options provide a clean, understated appearance. We also offer all-season wools, performance stretch fabrics, flannels, linen blends and numerous luxury compositions.
For clients prioritizing comfort, our Tasmanian stretch-wool collections provide exceptional movement while maintaining a refined tailored appearance. Mohair-wool blends, incorporating fibres from the Angora goat, are another shop favourite. Mohair can create a crisp, lightweight and breathable cloth with excellent wrinkle resistance, structure and a distinctive finish—making it particularly effective for luxury tuxedos, wedding suits and formalwear.
For summer and destination weddings, wool-linen blends combine linen’s beautiful texture with some of wool’s structure and wrinkle resistance. Wool-silk blends can provide another distinctive option, introducing a refined sheen and luxurious finish for grooms looking for greater visual impact. For fall and winter weddings, heavier flannels provide beautiful texture, depth and opportunities for mixing separates after the wedding.
Versatility can also influence fabric selection. We have specific fabrics selected for their weight, texture, colour and matte finish that can transition from a formal wedding look to a business suit—and, with the right design, allow the jacket to be worn separately with trousers or jeans.
We work with leading fabric houses including Vitale Barberis Canonico, Drago, Holland & Sherry, Reda, Carnet, Zegna and many others, with options across multiple price levels.
Ultimately, the right fabric is determined by your wedding, desired aesthetic, comfort and performance requirements, budget, and how you intend to wear the suit afterward. Our role is to understand those needs first and then narrow an enormous fabric selection to the options that make the most sense for you.
Suit vs. Tuxedo: What Should a Groom Wear?
One of the first decisions most grooms make is whether to wear a traditional tuxedo or a three-piece suit. At Empire Customs, we also offer a third option that has become extremely popular: our hybrid tuxedo.
The defining feature of a traditional tuxedo is the satin detailing on the lapels, creating a more distinctly formal appearance. From there, the possibilities are extensive. Satin can be matte or have more sheen, while lapel shape, vest design, shirt styling, buttons and other details can all be customized. We also offer fabrics with particularly rich colour, texture and subtle sheen that create noticeable impact from across a room.
A traditional three-piece suit replaces the tuxedo’s satin detailing with self-fabric lapels and adds a matching vest. Depending on the cloth and styling, a three-piece suit can still feel exceptionally formal while offering greater versatility after the wedding.
Our third option, the Empire Customs hybrid tuxedo, bridges these two worlds. We incorporate removable tuxedo-inspired styling details into a two- or three-piece suit, creating the presence of a tuxedo on the wedding day while allowing the suit to be converted afterward into a traditional suit. With the right fabric, the jacket can even transition into a sport coat worn with jeans.
Today, approximately 50% of our grooms choose a hybrid tuxedo, largely because versatility and the ability to wear their wedding suit again have become increasingly important. That does not make one option better than another. A traditional tuxedo remains timeless, elegant and ideal for many weddings.
The right choice depends on your venue, wedding aesthetic, personal style and what you want from the garment after the wedding.
During our consultations, we use a large six-foot digital display to show examples from the thousands of grooms we have dressed over nearly two decades. Rather than simply looking at small fabric swatches, you can see different fabrics, lapels, vests and styling combinations on actual wedding looks.
Once we understand your vision and practical needs, we can narrow an enormous range of possibilities into the few options that make the most sense for your wedding.
Big, Tall, Short or Athletic: How a Custom Wedding Suit Should Fit
One of the greatest advantages of a custom wedding suit is the ability to design the garment around your individual proportions—not simply your chest or waist measurement.
At Empire Customs, we create an individual pattern for each client. With almost two decades of experience, we’ve worked with virtually every type of build—from extremely tall and athletic NBA players to CFL linemen with substantial chests, shoulders and midsections, and everything in between. That experience has taught us that great fit isn’t simply about making a garment follow the body. It’s about creating the most flattering overall silhouette for the person wearing it.
A jacket is constructed from multiple sections, including front, side and back panels. Some clients are chest-dominant and require more room through the front; others require greater allowance through the back. Height, posture, shoulder width and leg-to-torso ratio also affect the balance of the pattern. When these elements are properly proportioned, the resulting silhouette can be noticeable from across the room.
For a larger build, we may use a softer, more natural shoulder and carefully considered jacket length to create a cleaner, longer line. A vest can create continuity through the midsection, while a wool with sufficient body can provide a flattering, structured drape.
For a shorter gentleman, jacket length becomes critical. Keeping the jacket just long enough to cover the seat preserves visible leg length. A softer shoulder and cleanly tapered trouser can further improve the body’s overall proportions. Lastly, a slightgly lower button placement on the jacket can even futher lenghten the torso from a visual perspective.
For tall, athletic or highly muscular clients, the challenge is often accommodating substantial shoulders, chest or thighs without making the rest of the garment oversized. An individually balanced pattern and softer shoulder construction can be particularly effective, while our Tasmanian performance-stretch wool collections provide additional comfort and movement.
After thousands of clients, we’ve learned there is no universal “ideal” body type for a suit. The objective is to emphasize your strongest features, visually soften areas you’re less confident about and create a balanced silhouette that makes you look—and feel—your best on the wedding day.
Remote Measuring: What If a Groomsman Lives Outside Toronto or Canada?
It is extremely common for a wedding party to have one or more groomsmen living outside Toronto, Ontario or even Canada. At Empire Customs, we have developed a thorough and accurate virtual measurement process specifically for these situations.
With nearly two decades of experience dressing wedding parties, remote measurements are something we routinely manage. In fact, it is rare for every member of a larger wedding party to live locally.
The process begins with an approximately 25-minute video appointment. During the call, we personally guide the groomsman through each measurement required to create his custom suit. He will need a measuring tape and a friend to assist with physically taking the measurements while we provide step-by-step instructions.
Importantly, we do not rely exclusively on body measurements. We also provide instructions for measuring a favourite well-fitting suit jacket and pair of trousers. These garment measurements give us an additional reference point for understanding the client’s preferred fit and proportions and allow us to cross-reference the information collected during the appointment.
The rest of the custom experience can also be handled remotely. We can review the wedding-party design, explain styling details and assist with choices such as lining and personalized monograms over video.
Once the suit is completed, we generally arrange to have it shipped with plenty of time before the wedding. This allows the groomsman to try everything on well in advance and confirm the overall fit. If minor alterations are required, they can be completed locally.
If the groomsman will be travelling to Toronto for the wedding—even if he arrives only shortly beforehand—we can also arrange to assist with final adjustments. Because the suit has already been tried on in advance, everyone has the peace of mind of knowing that any remaining changes should be relatively minor.
Distance should not prevent a wedding party from having a coordinated custom look. Our goal is to make the remote process simple, accurate and stress-free, whether your groomsman lives elsewhere in Ontario, another province, the United States or overseas.
Summer, Winter & Destination Wedding Suits
Season and location can completely change what makes the ideal wedding suit. At Empire Customs, we generally see grooms take one of three paths: a lightweight summer or destination fabric, a more traditional all-season wool, or a heavier and more textured fabric for a winter wedding.
For summer and destination weddings, linen is one of the most distinctive choices. Pure linen can produce beautiful, rich colours and noticeable texture, sometimes with subtle variations in tone created by the weave. It has a relaxed elegance that works especially well for weddings beside the water, outdoors or in tropical settings. Linen will naturally wrinkle more than traditional suiting wool, but those creases are part of its character.
Many grooms love the look of linen but want their suit to remain more polished throughout a long wedding day. In these situations, we often recommend a linen-wool blend. It can retain much of linen’s visual texture while wool generally provides better shape retention and crease recovery. The range is enormous: some fabrics have pronounced open or mesh-like textures, while others appear almost like a traditional wool from a distance. Our tropical collections also include linen, wool and bamboo blends that combine distinctive texture and colour with lightweight comfort.
A destination wedding does not automatically require linen. Some grooms prefer a lightweight or all-season wool in a brighter colour, while others still want a traditional black tuxedo. The right choice depends on the setting, desired level of formality, personal style and how you want the fabric to perform.
Winter weddings open an entirely different range of possibilities. Flannels and other seasonal wools can offer deeper visual texture, softer surfaces and rich colours that look especially appropriate in colder environments.
Black is also exceptionally popular for winter weddings. Our Empire Super Black is an all-season wool selected for its unusually deep black appearance, soft handle and natural stretch. Against a snowy backdrop, that depth of colour can photograph beautifully, while the same fabric can also work for a formal destination tuxedo.
There is no single “correct” seasonal wedding fabric. During an Empire Customs consultation, we compare the options based on your venue, climate, wedding theme, comfort requirements, personal style and budget to find the combination that works for you.
What to Expect at Your First Wedding Suit Appointment
At Empire Customs, a first wedding suit appointment starts with questions—not measurements.
Before recommending a fabric or style, we want to understand the wedding itself and what you want from your suit. Where is the wedding? What time of year is it? Is the setting formal, relaxed or destination-based? Do you have inspiration photos? What colours and styles are you drawn to? Do you want to wear the suit again after the wedding? We also discuss budget, wedding colours and themes, and any practical considerations that could influence the process.
Once we understand your priorities, we can begin making specific recommendations. With a fabric library of more than 1,000 suiting options, the objective isn’t to show you everything. It’s usually to narrow an enormous selection down to one, two or three strong directions that suit your wedding and personal style.
Seeing a fabric swatch alone can sometimes make it difficult to imagine the finished garment. During consultations, we often use our large six-foot digital display to show photographs of previous Empire Customs clients wearing similar fabrics, colours and styles. After more than 15 years and thousands of clients, we have an extensive library of real examples that can help bridge the gap between a small swatch and a completed suit. We also typically have 100–150 completed suits awaiting pickup, so there are often current examples in the showroom that demonstrate similar colours, textures or design ideas.
Your first appointment also helps establish when you should actually be measured. There is no identical timeline for every groom.
Some clients begin measurements several months before their wedding. Others who have selected their fabric well in advance choose what we call a “cut and hold,” where the fabric is reserved while measurements are taken closer to the wedding. This can provide peace of mind while accommodating anticipated body changes. Other clients—particularly those travelling a significant distance to visit us—prefer to complete their measurements during the initial appointment to minimize additional trips.
The purpose of the first consultation is ultimately to leave with clarity: a defined style direction, an understanding of your fabric options and a timeline built around your specific wedding.
A Tuxedo You Can Wear Again: The Empire Hybrid Tuxedo
For a groom who wants the ultimate formal wedding look, it is difficult to surpass a traditional tuxedo. Stylish, timeless and elegant, a beautifully tailored tuxedo creates a level of formality that feels distinctly appropriate for the significance of a wedding. At Empire Customs, approximately half of our grooms choose a full formal tuxedo.
At the same time, we increasingly hear another priority: “I want my wedding suit to feel special, but I also want to wear it again.”
That demand for versatility led us to develop one of our most popular alternatives: the Empire Hybrid Tuxedo, now chosen in some form by approximately the other half of our grooms.
A hybrid tuxedo begins with a two- or three-piece suit but incorporates multiple tuxedo-inspired elements for the wedding. The objective is to create much of the formal presence and character associated with a tuxedo, while designing the garment so many of those formal details can later be removed or changed.
Wedding-day styling can include satin-covered jacket and vest buttons, a bow tie, vest or cummerbund, shirt studs and formal footwear such as patent-leather loafers. With a bow tie, we generally recommend either a stud-front shirt or covered placket rather than visible everyday shirt buttons, creating a cleaner formal presentation.
After the wedding, the transformation is simple. Empire Customs will remove the satin-covered buttons at no additional charge and replace them with traditional horn-style buttons with a subtle marbled appearance. Remove the bow tie, studs and other formal accessories, and the garment takes on the appearance of a traditional suit suitable for future weddings, dinners, business functions and other occasions.
The hybrid concept can also work beautifully with brighter-coloured suits. Matching fabric-covered buttons, a bow tie and covered-placket shirt can create a formal wedding look without following the traditional black-tuxedo formula.
Ultimately, both directions have merit. A traditional tuxedo offers the ultimate in timeless formality. The hybrid tuxedo offers a different advantage: creating a distinctly formal wedding look while planning from the beginning for how the suit will be worn afterward.
When Should You Order Your Custom Wedding Suit?
One of the most common questions we receive from grooms is: When should I start the custom suit process?
At Empire Customs, we generally recommend taking your measurements and officially beginning production four to five months before your wedding. This creates a relaxed timeline with plenty of room to perfect every detail rather than simply trying to have the suit ready in time.
Custom suit production typically takes four to eight weeks, depending on the fabric, construction and time of year. Once the suit arrives, we generally allow approximately two weeks for final alterations and finishing. Starting four to five months out means the goal is to have your wedding suit completely finished roughly six weeks before the wedding.
That extra runway is intentional. There is very little benefit to unnecessarily leaving a wedding suit until the last minute. Having everything completed early gives you time to make thoughtful additions or changes—perhaps adding another custom shirt, reconsidering a vest style, or refining how the complete wedding look comes together.
For couples planning further ahead, we recommend scheduling an initial pre-planning consultation as early as you like—even a year before the wedding. At this stage, we learn about your wedding, personal style, lifestyle and overall vision. We can then explore fabrics and design options and typically narrow everything down to two or three strong directions.
In certain situations, we may also recommend a “cut and hold.” This allows us to secure a specific fabric while delaying final measurements and production. It can be particularly useful when a groom expects significant weight loss or body changes, or when a unique fabric could sell out or be discontinued.
Rush orders can sometimes be accommodated, including timelines of approximately three to four weeks or less, but availability depends on the fabric mill, tailoring capacity and logistics. Additional rush fees may apply.
Ultimately, the best timeline is not simply the fastest one. It is the timeline that gives you the right facabric, the right fit and a stress-free experience leading into your wedding day.
The Groomsmen Experience: Private Group Fittings at Empire Customs
Choosing suits for the wedding party should be part of the wedding experience—not simply a list of measurements to collect.
At Empire Customs, we generally encourage the groom and groomsmen to visit together. With two separate floors, we can provide your group with a private fitting experience where everyone can have a drink from our bar, explore fabrics and styles, and enjoy the process together.
One of the first decisions is what you want the suits to accomplish after the wedding. We typically explore three directions: timeless all-season wool, our matte versatile fabrics, or a hybrid tuxedo.
For groomsmen who want maximum versatility, we’ve curated fabrics specifically for this purpose. The right matte navy, grey or black fabric can look polished and formal at the wedding, work later as a traditional suit, pair casually with a T-shirt, or allow the jacket to be worn separately as a sport coat. Fabric weight, texture, colour and finish all contribute to making this versatility possible.
For a more formal wedding, our hybrid tuxedo offers another solution. It provides many of the visual elements of a tuxedo for the wedding, while certain tuxedo-inspired details can later be removed or modified by Empire Customs at no additional charge, allowing the garment to transition toward regular suit use.
Each member of the wedding party receives an individually created pattern and can personalize details including lapels, pockets, buttons, shoulders, trouser waistbands, surgeon cuffs, shirt collars and cuffs, monograms and linings. We offer more than 200 lining options, with fully custom linings also available. Necessary fittings and alterations are included.
Our garments are also constructed with additional seam allowance where appropriate, providing flexibility for future alterations if someone’s measurements change.
Wedding parties can qualify for preferred group pricing based on group size and season, with particularly strong opportunities during our quieter November-to-January period. Because our production capacity is deliberately limited, we recommend planning group orders well ahead of the wedding.
The goal is simple: everyone looks cohesive on the wedding day while each groomsman leaves with a custom suit he can genuinely wear again.
