A fitting at the RAJASAB atelier

How long a bespoke suit takes.

17 September 2026 · The Journal

The short answer

A first suit takes one to two weeks: one sitting, then two fittings. You are given a date at the first sitting. Repeat orders start from the pattern we already hold, so they usually need fewer fittings.

The stages

The consultation and the measure. One sitting at the Worli atelier, about an hour. We talk about where the suit will be worn, you choose the cloth by hand, and the cutter takes your measure and notes how you stand — shoulders, posture, the things a tape does not record.

The draft and the cut. A paper pattern is drafted for you alone and the cloth is cut from it by hand. If the cloth is on the shelf this begins at once. If it is ordered in from the mill, its journey is added to the timeline, and you are told so at the start.

The basted fitting. The suit is tacked together in white thread and tried on you. Nothing is final, and everything can still move: the balance, the shoulder line, the length, the sleeve pitch. This is the fitting that separates bespoke from everything else. The garment is taken apart the moment you leave.

The second fitting. The suit comes back nearly itself — canvas in, pockets made, sleeves set. This sitting is for the fine points: the break of the trouser, the button stance, a quarter-inch at the cuff.

The finish. Buttonholes, hand finishing, a final press and a last examination. You try the finished suit once before it goes home.

Why it cannot honestly be shorter

Each stage depends on the one before. A suit that skips the baste is being made from numbers and never checked against the body. When a shop promises a full bespoke suit in a day or two, something has been left out — usually the pattern, the basted fitting or the canvas. Why the canvas matters →

If your date is close

Tell us the date in your first message. We will say plainly what can be done well in the time and what cannot, before any money changes hands. We take a small number of urgent orders when the atelier has room. Write with your date and we will tell you the same day whether we can. For a wedding, the right moment to begin is about twelve weeks out. The wedding timeline →

If you do not live in Mumbai

Once the first sitting is done and the pattern is drafted, the later fittings can be arranged around a single trip. Repeat orders start from the pattern we already hold, so they usually need fewer fittings.

The first step is one message. Book a fitting →

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The garments

The garments this note is about

Tuxedo in black

Tuxedo

Tuxedos
At the atelier

A tuxedo on one button, the peak lapel faced in silk.

Commission this

Tuxedo

Tuxedos

A tuxedo on one button, the peak lapel faced in silk.

Commission this
At the atelier
Ivory sherwani in ivory
At the atelier

A sherwani cut like the formal coat it is, structured under the silk.

Commission this

A sherwani cut like the formal coat it is, structured under the silk.

Commission this
At the atelier