Bespoke
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bespoke is a usually British English term for tailored clothing made at a customer's behest, and exactly to the customer's specification. Bespoke clothing is created without use of a pre-existing pattern, differentiating it from made to measure, which alters a standard-sized pattern to fit the customer.
[edit] Etymology
"Bespoke" comes from the word bespeak, meaning to ask for or order something. This has its roots in Savile Row, where a customer would speak for a measure of cloth. A bolt chosen by one customer was not available for anyone else until the entire suit had been cut out and assembled.
[edit] Reference
Kate Norton. Savile Row Never Goes Out of Style. BusinessWeek.
[edit] Other uses
The term can also refer to
- Furniture.
- Elements of interior design (i.e. closets).
- Software, which means it is software written in-house, designed specifically and customised for a single company and/or task.
- Customisation of a particular product or service (i.e. envelopes)
- Structured finance products (e.g. collateralized debt obligations)
