Made to measure in New York.
Full canvas, one fitting, on the Upper East Side.

Made-to-measure at L&S starts with the house master pattern — refined over five decades of cutting for New York bodies — and adjusts it to yours. Full canvas construction, hand-finished details, one fitting, 4–6 weeks. From $2,695.

To be precise about what it is not: made-to-measure is not a pattern drafted from a live drape on your body. That is bespoke, and it costs more because it takes more. Made-to-measure is the master pattern, adjusted — and for most commissions, it is everything the suit needs to be.

The house has been at 138 East 61st Street, Suite 201, since 1974. Salvatore Cristiano opened it; Carl Cristiano runs it today. Nine master tailors build the clothes.

Why full canvas is the line

Inside every L&S made-to-measure jacket is a full floating canvas — wool and horsehair, shaped by hand. Canvas is what lets a jacket mold to you over years of wear instead of collapsing or bubbling the way fused construction does. It is the single biggest difference between a suit that ages and a suit that expires. You cannot see canvas on a rack, which is why so few makers bother with it. You can feel it within a month of wearing, and see it within a year.

It is also the honest line between our own tiers. Made-to-order, from $1,295, is a house style sized to your measurements — quality construction, 3–4 weeks, a proper introduction to custom, and not full canvas. Full canvas begins at made-to-measure. Above it sits bespoke, from $3,695: a live-draped pattern and 3–4 fittings on a first suit. Neither is a lesser choice; they answer different questions. The long version is in made-to-measure vs bespoke.

How a commission runs

One visit to measure: an hour at the atelier, where we take a full set of measurements, note posture and stance, and choose cloth from bolts you can hold. The master pattern is adjusted to those numbers, the suit is cut and canvassed, and you return once for the fitting — where the collar, sleeve pitch, and drape are checked against your body and corrected before finishing. Delivery at 4–6 weeks.

The cloth is chosen at the atelier, from the mills the house has worked with for decades: Loro Piana, Dormeuil, Holland & Sherry, Scabal, Vitale Barberis Canonico. Bolts you can hold up to the light, not swatches on a screen. For a first made-to-measure commission we will usually steer you toward a mid-weight cloth in a dark ground — the suit that works hardest — and save the adventurous bolt for the second.

Your adjusted pattern is kept. The second suit starts where the first one finished — clients who come in from out of state have their measurements waiting.

When you are ready, reserve a made-to-measure commission — or book the consultation first and decide at the atelier.

The atelier

138 East 61st Street, Suite 201, New York, NY 10065 — the Upper East Side, between Park and Lexington. Tuesday–Friday 8:30–5:30. Saturday 8:30–4:00. By appointment.

Book at book.lstailors.com. Call (212) 752-1638. Concierge (212) 308-4431.