Made-to-measure means cut specially to fit one person's body. Somebody took your measurements, and the cloth was cut afterwards.
Tailoring is where the phrase lives: a made-to-measure suit, a made-to-measure shirt, and the shop that offers it will have a tape measure round somebody's neck. It sits between off-the-peg, which is bought as it comes, and bespoke, which is made from scratch to a unique pattern — made-to-measure adjusts an existing pattern to your shape. The phrase has spread beyond clothes to anything tailored to one customer, as in a made-to-measure insurance policy.
1adjectivemade-to-measureMade specially to fit a particular person or purpose.
“He saved up for a made-to-measure suit.”
synonyms: bespoke, tailored
Practised in A Man Called Ove
First appears in chapter 10 of A Man Called Ove.
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