馬修•卡查(Matthew Karcha)需要一套正裝。在高端房產界供職的卡查表示：「我希望它既時尚又得體。我的肩膀很寬，但腰圍只有32英寸。我希望它很合身。」很顯然，現成的衣服是沒有的。但他應該去訂做(made-to-measure)或預訂(bespoke)嗎?還有，這兩者究竟有什麼差別?
在大街上隨便攔住一個人，問問他知不知道這樣一些詞的差別：個性化製衣(personal tailoring)、現成的衣服(off-the-peg)、定做(customised)、特別製作(tailor-made)、定製(made-to-measure)、預約製作(bespoke)。被問者很可能說不出個所以然。的確，如今男士正裝的名堂和價格說法似乎比男人櫥櫃裡的領帶還要多。
最終，卡查通過Gieves & Hawkes的「個性化製衣」定做了一套褐色、有一道紅線的開司米單排扣西服。這裡的「個性化」是指：在該公司標準模板基礎上，根據客戶對面料的選擇，並依照他的尺碼加以改進。
Gieves & Hawkes 的首席裁縫安德魯•高德伯格(Andrew Goldberg)解釋說：「個性化製衣是一個過程。這遠不只是定製，因為它不只是做一件衣服，它是在與客戶形成一種關係，可以讓他們加入一些創造性想法進來。」
與此同時，在Kilgour有一種服務被稱為『入門級'。Kilgour的董事總經理休•霍蘭德(Hugh Holland)說：「在(倫敦)薩維伊街(Savile Row)，預訂的服裝都是一個人手工做出的，而我們的『入門級'西服也是手工，但由團隊製作。這就像手錶，有各式各樣的複雜程度。」
Austin Reed則可以提供「籤名系列」(Signature range)。該品牌執行長尼克•霍林沃斯(Nick Hollingworth)表示，該系列服裝「優於我們的現成產品和定製系列，但並不完全是預訂產品。比如它們有100多種不同的襯裡，客戶也可以選擇用何種紐扣。」
那麼，這只是商人們為了對本已困惑的潛在買家大加利用而編出的漂亮言辭，還是男裝領域真的出現了一個積極的新動向?霍林沃斯本人對更多複雜性進行了辯解：「不同的人可能會入住不同的酒店，比如三星、四星或五星，但現如今，我們越來越想要做的就是個性，再加上更高水準的個人服務。」
霍林沃斯表示，類似的，所有新變化都是客戶需求推動出現的。「一套預約製作的服裝價格為3400英鎊，而首件入門級正裝的價格位1880英鎊，隨後我們會量下你的尺碼，接下來就是1410英鎊每件，因此人們很快就熟悉起來。」比如，一位律師出庭時在律師袍下面穿入門級套裝，見客戶時則穿預約製作的正裝。
財務和審美角度的選擇，也是「Baby Bespoke」的背後推手。「Baby Bespoke」是伊頓襯衫製作公司New & Lingwood為面臨多種新選擇的顧客提供的一種服務。New & Lingwood 的銷售和市場總監賈斯丁•薩默裡(Justin Sumrie)說：「我們發現，人們希望在不涉及全套預約過程的情況下定製他們的襯衫。我們有大量領口、袖子的方案可供選擇，也有很多種面料。」
比如，企業金融家休•範•卡特森(Hugh van Cutsem)最近為他的婚禮買了一件Baby Bespoke襯衫。他表示：「過去我從未特別定製過一件襯衫，我實在不清楚那會怎樣。這次我希望襯衫帶點淡藍色條紋，領口則是老式的可拆卸樣式。這實在是個很反常的組合。」
Baby Bespoke襯衫與完全預約製作的襯衫不同，它有兩種風格：一是哲麥街風格(Jermyn Street)，薩默裡巧妙地稱之為「相當完美」;另一種就是定製的風格，適合於較瘦的身材或較為休閒的外觀。
伊頓襯衫(Eton Shirts)正在將微觀分類概念引向邏輯化、技術化和極端化。伊頓襯衫首席設計師讓•伯哈達(Jan Borghardt)說：「今後你將能通過網際網路來設計你自己的襯衫了。你可以在屏幕上進行設計——袖長、領扣樣式、顏色等，然後你將收到一條SMS信息，它會告訴你襯衫何時發送給你。所有人都能做自己的設計師了。」沒有困惑，簡單明了。
Matthew Karcha needed a suit. 「I wanted something that was fashionable but classically elegant. Because I'm quite broad over the shoulders but I've got a 32-inch waist, I also needed something that would fit properly,」 says Karcha, who works in the high-end property business. It was pretty clear that off-the-peg was not an option. But should he go for made-to-measure or bespoke? And anyway, what the hell is the difference?
Ask the average bloke in the street about the differences between personal tailoring, off-the-peg, customised, tailor-made, made-to-measure or bespoke, and chances are he won't have a clue what to answer. Indeed, these days there seem to be more variations and price points in suiting then there are ties in most men's closets.
Karcha ended up ordering a brown cashmere single breasted suit with a red lining through Gieves & Hawkes' 「personal tailoring」 service. Translation: the suit is created on the standard company 「block」 or model but made in the customer's choice of fabric and altered to fit his measurements.
「Personal tailoring is a process. It's more than just made-to-measure because it's not just about manufacturing, it's about developing a relationship with the customer and allowing them to have some creative input,」 explains Andrew Goldberg, Gieves' head of tailoring.
At Kilgour, meanwhile, there's a service called entry level. 「With bespoke, the garment is made by hand in Savile Row by one person, whereas our entry-level suits are still hand-made but produced by a team,」 says Hugh Holland, Kilgour's managing director. 「It's like a watch – there are various levels of intricacy.」
Then there's Austin Reed's Signature range, which 「fits above our ready-made and our made-to-measure lines but is not quite true bespoke – there are more than a hundred different linings and a choice of buttons, for instance,」 says chief executive Nick Hollingworth.
So is it all just the slick semantics of the marketeer keen to take advantage of an already nonplussed would-be suit purchaser, or actually a positive new development in men's wear? For his part, Hollingworth defends any additional complication: 「Different people might be prepared to pay for three-, four- or five-star hotels but, these days, what more and more of us want is something individual, plus a higher level of personal service.」
Similarly, Holland says, all the additional variation is driven by customer demand: 「A bespoke suit is £3,400 whereas entry-level suits are £1,880 for the first suit, when we measure you and then £1,410 afterwards, so people very often trade up,」 he says. One barrister uses his entry-level suit under his gown and his bespoke version to see clients, for instance.
Choice – financial and aesthetic – was also the impetus behind Baby Bespoke, shirtmaker New & Lingwood's contribution to the many new options facing customers. 「We found that people want to customise their shirts without getting involved in the full bespoke process,」 says sales and marketing director Justin Sumrie. 「We've got a range of collar and cuff options available and a host of fabrics.」
Corporate financier Hugh van Cutsem, for example, recently bought a Baby Bespoke shirt for his wedding. 「I'd never had a shirt made specially for me and I wasn't really sure how you went about it,」 he says. 「I wanted something with a light blue stripe, which also had the old fashioned separate collar. It's quite an unusual combination.」
Unlike a fully bespoke shirt, Baby Bespoke comes in two fits: the Jermyn Street, which Sumrie describes tactfully as 「fairly full」, and the tailored fit, which works for a leaner figure or a more casual look.
Eton Shirts is taking the concept of micro-categorisation to the logical, technical, extreme: 「You'll be able to create your own shirt via the internet,」 says Jan Borghardt, head of design. 「You'll be able to design it on screen – sleeve length, collar style, colours – and then you'll get an SMS telling you when it's on its way. Everyone can be their own designer.」 Out of confusion, comes simplicity.