Questions to ask a tailor before you order — and how to read the answers

The short answer

Ask about construction, cloth weight, fittings, timeline and what happens if the fit is wrong — and pay more attention to how each answer is given than to the answer itself. A tailor who knows their trade will give you a number, a name or a plain no. A tailor who is selling will give you an adjective. The questions below are ordered the way a first consultation actually runs, and each one includes what a real answer sounds like.

Before you ask anything, say what the suit is for

The single most useful sentence in a first meeting is not a question. Tell the tailor where the suit will be worn, how often, and in what weather. A suit for daily commuting in Bangkok and a suit for two formal evenings a year are different garments, and every recommendation after that sentence depends on it. If a tailor starts pulling cloth before asking you this, that itself is an answer.

The nine questions

1. Is this fused, half-canvas or full-canvas?

This is the question that separates a made garment from an assembled one. A fused jacket has its front glued to an interlining; a canvassed jacket has a layer stitched in that moulds to your chest over time. Both are legitimate at their price, but you should be told which you are buying. A straight answer names one of the three without hesitation. A vague answer — "premium construction", "the best materials" — usually means fused. In this humidity the question is not only about quality: glue eventually delaminates, which is why we would rather explain canvas than avoid the word.

2. What does this cloth weigh?

Ask for grams per metre. It is the number that decides whether a suit is comfortable in this city, and it is printed on the bolt. 210–250g is tropical weight; 260–300g is the four-season cloth sold as standard in Europe and North America, which is punishing here. A shop that cannot tell you the weight does not know its own stock. We cover why in what tropical suiting actually is.

3. Who made this cloth?

A mill name is a fact you can check; "Italian wool" is not. Any tailor holding premium cloth will happily name the mill, because that is what they are charging for. Ours is house Italian wool and tropical blends as standard, with Loro Piana, Zegna, Holland & Sherry and Dormeuil available on request. If the answer is only an adjective, treat the cloth as unbranded and price it accordingly — which is fine, as long as you know.

4. How many fittings, and what happens at each?

Two to three is the working answer for a properly made suit, and a tailor should be able to describe what each one is for rather than just counting them. One fitting can be enough on an express timeline, but that is a trade-off being made, not a sign of skill. The detail is in how many fittings.

5. What is your realistic timeline — not your fastest one?

Ask for both. Every tailor in Pratunam can quote a fast number; the useful question is what the schedule looks like when the workshop is busy and you want the fit right. If you are on a trip, say your departure date first and let the tailor tell you what is achievable before it. A shop that promises anything you name has stopped listening. See how long a suit really takes.

6. What is the price, and what would change it?

You want a quote before anything is cut, and you want to know which decisions move it — cloth, construction, and the number of pieces are the three that matter. Ours start from ฿7,500 for a made-to-measure two-piece and we quote in full before we cut. Be wary of a figure that arrives without being asked what you want, and of a figure that keeps moving after you agree to it.

7. What happens if it does not fit?

Ask this out loud, early, while the conversation is friendly. The answer you want is that adjustments are part of the job and included. It is a fair question and a good tailor is not offended by it — we would rather answer it at the start than at collection.

8. Do you keep my pattern?

If the shop keeps your pattern, a reorder from another country is a phone call rather than a return trip, and the second suit matches the first. If they do not, every order starts again. This matters more for visitors than for anyone else, and almost nobody thinks to ask.

9. Can I see something you have finished for a customer?

Not a photograph of a model — something made for a person, on the rail or on the tailor. Look at where the sleeve meets the shoulder, whether the lapel rolls or is pressed flat, and how the lining is finished inside the armhole. You do not need to know tailoring to see whether it looks made or assembled.

Three answers that should slow you down

None of these mean a shop is dishonest, but each one means keep asking. First, a price quoted before you have said what you want — that is a package being sold, not a suit being made. Second, a yes to every timeline, however short. Third, an adjective where a number belongs: "the finest", "top quality", "premium imported" in place of a weight, a mill or a construction. The trade has plain words for all of these, and a tailor who uses them is telling you they know what they are selling.

Two questions that matter more in Pratunam

Most guides to this are written for a single appointment at a bespoke house. In Platinum Fashion Mall you are often choosing between several shops in one building, on a short trip, while being invited in from the walkway. Two questions cut through that. Ask who will actually make the suit and whether the cutting happens in-house — many shopfronts are agents for a shared workshop, which is not a fault but does change who is accountable for your fit. And ask what happens after you fly home: the answer to that is where the difference between a shop and a tailor usually shows.

What to bring to the first meeting

Bring a jacket you already own that fits you well, even if it is not a suit — it is the fastest way to communicate a shoulder you like without either of you guessing. Bring photographs of what you want if you have them. Bring the shoes you will wear with the suit, because trouser length cannot be finalised without them. And bring your dates. Everything else can be decided in the room. Bring a shirt whose fit you like as well - the same nine questions apply to tailored shirts.

Where to ask them

We are on the 4th floor of Platinum Fashion Mall in Pratunam, open 10 AM–8 PM daily, a short ride from BTS Ratchathewi. Come with the nine questions above and use them on us — a consultation costs nothing and you will learn more in twenty minutes with cloth in your hands than in an afternoon of reading. If you are still deciding which shop to walk into, how to choose your tailor covers that step, and booking ahead means the cloth is out when you arrive.

Common questions