Beginner- Can I ask tailor to make suit with Fabric

[Lordswolf]

Hi all
Beginner to this world and was looking for advice.

Usually buy off the peg suits and my tailor has done a great job with them (imo).

Can I buy fabric from an italian mill and ask the tailor to make the suit?
Believe this would allow me to get much better quality fabric suits for cheaper? (1k USD as opposed to 3/4K USD if I was to buy same fabric suit from a designer?)

Any catch here or am I completely on the wrong track

 

[Andy57]

Hi all
Beginner to this world and was looking for advice.

Usually buy off the peg suits and my tailor has done a great job with them (imo).

Can I buy fabric from an italian mill and ask the tailor to make the suit?
Believe this would allow me to get much better quality fabric suits for cheaper? (1k USD as opposed to 3/4K USD if I was to buy same fabric suit from a designer?)

Any catch here or am I completely on the wrong track

Many, but not all, tailors will make up a suit or jacket for you from cloth you provide. This is called "CMT". I would only advocate doing CMT if you have cloth that is not otherwise commercially available, such as a vintage length, or a custom run from a group like the London Lounge. Your tailor can obtain a commercial cloth at a trade discount, and the cost of the cloth is factored in to the price quoted to you for the garment.

So, if you have a particular cloth from a particular mill that you would like to have made up, you should ask your tailor if they can obtain it.

 

[TheIronDandy]

Does your tailor normally do suits to order? There's a big difference between a alternations tailor, and a tailor who can make a suit. Even if they can do other garments, a tailored jacket is one of the hardest garments to make, so I wouldn't ask a tailor to do it unless they are already in the business of making suits.

 

[comrade]

Over the years I've had two tailors who could make suits. When I asked my tailor
30+ years ago in Chicago who wore clothes that he made for himself, he said
that he preferred to do alterations because he couldn't make as much doing
bespoke all by himself. This is a guy who altered Savile Row bespoke and other
high end clothing. My recently departed tailor in the Bay Area showed me a Tux that he had cut for himself, which was sent out to be sewn. He also confined himself to alterations. Both could do very complicated alterations to perfection.

 

[ValidusLA]

As @Andy57 points out above, any competent tailor who does bespoke or MTM can do CMT.
As to should you?
I lean towards Andy's point of - only if there is a reason you are bringing your own cloth.

I've done three in the following circumstances -
I was cruising HFW and found a length of deadstock i loved at insanely low price for a sport coat.
I was in NYC at Tip Top and found an old length of Lumbs Golden Bale that I brought home.
Fox was doing a limited run of a cloth online only that I bought (generally buying DTC from Fox is way worse than just have a good tailor buy at trade).

I also am sort of.... against asking a tailor to do CMT as a first commission. This isn't a rule per se. I just think its rude for some reason.