How flexible is MTM?

[Threadbearer]

While I was ordering a shirt from MyTailor.com last month, I had the feeling I was ordering bespoke instead of MTM. The reason is this: During the ordering process I was asked to take measurements down to the eighth inch. I was even invited to enter different wrist measurements for each cuff, left and right, depending on where I wear my watch and how thick it is.

Isn't that more for show than anything else? Aren't they really just going to walk over to their set of generic patterns and select the one that comes closest to my collection of measurements? Don't get me wrong; that would still be an improvement over OTR -- especially for those of us with uncommon measurements. But at the same time, it's not inconsequential.

Let's say I want the left sleeve of the next shirt I order from MyTailor to be an eighth of an inch shorter than the left sleeve of the first shirt I ordered from them. Won't they just reach for the same pattern? Won't I always get a cloned shirt unless I give them new measurements that are significantly different from the original set?

 

[Sanguis Mortuum]

I doubt they make up a physical pattern for each customer, as far as I know places like this usually have computer software that will generate the pattern each time based on the measurements. So yes, if you change a measurement by 1/8" I would have thought your next shirt will have that 1/8" inch difference...

(I also don't see how this has any bearing on the difference between MTM and bespoke...it's still very much MTM...)

 

[jefferyd]

Originally Posted by Sanguis Mortuum

places like this usually have computer software that will generate the pattern each time based on the measurements. So yes, if you change a measurement by 1/8" I would have thought your next shirt will have that 1/8" inch difference...

Correct. It is now very easy to make a whole range of alterations to patterns using computers, and most, if not all, MTM makers are set up to adjust for asymmetries such as low shoulders or watch-wearing wrist etc.

 

[Threadbearer]

Originally Posted by Sanguis Mortuum

(I also don't see how this has any bearing on the difference between MTM and bespoke...it's still very much MTM...)
No doubt I'm misusing the terms. I'm only just now learning the language of MTM. I do not yet speak bespoke.

Originally Posted by jefferyd

Correct. It is now very easy to make a whole range of alterations to patterns using computers, and most, if not all, MTM makers are set up to adjust for asymmetries such as low shoulders or watch-wearing wrist etc.
Thanks, jefferyd. That answers my question. If I understand you correctly, MyTailor.com may indeed start with the same pattern when creating my second shirt that they used with my first, but then they will make deviations from that pattern based on the new measurements that I send them.