Made to Measure

Made to Measure

The link

Pakkend Website

What it is

Pakkend is a tailoring company in Amsterdam, which makes made to measure suits. They also have a ready to wear collection.

‘Made to measure’ means a suit made from a pattern that has been fitted to the buyer. It’s a step up from ‘ready to wear’, which is buying an existing suit in a store. The final step up in quality (and price) is ‘bespoke’. A bespoke suit is created from a pattern drawn for the buyer from scratch.

Ordering a suit made to measure ensures a great fit, and you can customize it to your hearts content.

What it means to me

I am a consultant in financial services, which means I wear a lot of suits. I made the switch to 'suit and tie only' early in my career, after seeing the difference in image between people who did, and didn’t. It helps that I don’t mind looking a bit formal.

A man’s suit is about one thing, and one thing only: the silhouette. A well-fitting suit accentuates your shoulders and narrows you waist a bit. You don’t close the bottom jacket button to create a slimming shape.

Tailoring for this silhouette is especially important if you don’t have a standard size! Imagine you have broad shoulders and short arms. You can either feel cramped in your ready to wear jacket, or have sleeves that fall over your hands. Or you can just have the perfect jacket made for you, and look a million times better. 

The fun in buying made to measure is deciding all the little details. Do you want a flashy lining? Colored buttons? Flap pockets or slit pockets? There are lots of subtle (or unsubtle) places where you can let your taste show. Although the people at Pakkend refused my green on grey stitching idea. On second thought, that was probably for the better.


Costs for ‘made to measure’ compare quite favorably to name brand suits, and you get good fabric as well. If, like me, you are hard on your suits you can also order additional pants with one jacket. Do this immediately, as you don’t want the fabric to run out!



The final advantage of made to measure: you’ll notice immediately when you put on weight. And you’ll have excellent motivation to start dieting.

I am firmly of the opinion that every man should have at least one good suit for formal occasions. If you’re going to spend the money, why not have it made for you?


Leonard