To order a made-to-measure garment, the customer's measurements are first taken by a made-to-measure retailer. Then a base pattern is selected that most closely corresponds with the customer’s measurements. This base pattern is altered to match the customer’s measurements. The garment is constructed from this altered pattern.

The primary benefits to the customer of made-to-measure clothing are that the garments will be well-fitted to the customer's body and the customer may have the opportunity to customize the fabric and detailing. The primary disadvantage of made-to-measure is that the customer must wait up to several weeks for the garment to be sewn and delivered. A typical price markup for a made-to-measure item is 15% over the price of its ready-to-wear counterpart.^{[citation needed]}

Made-to-measure retailers often travel internationally meeting clients in cities, providing samples of the latest materials and styles.

Unlike bespoke garments, which traditionally involves hand sewing, made-to-measure manufacturers use both machine- and hand-sewing. Made-to-measure also requires fewer fittings than bespoke, resulting in a shorter wait between customer measurement and garment delivery.

Made-to-measure is sometimes also referred to as personal tailoring.^[1]

In recent years tailoring has evolved further with young companies like Artefact London, that make a blend of made-to-measure and bespoke approaches. A base pattern is used to gauge your measurements and your unique pattern is created electronically with all alterations accounted for prior to cutting. Thus alleviating the need for baste fitting that is mandatory in bespoke with very minor alterations (if any) needed at the fitting.