You might have come from this article, or from the google search bar, but you'll be welcomed the same.
RTW stands for ready-to-wear.
MTO stands for Made to Order
MTM stands for Made to measure
Bespoke means that the garment is made from scratch for you.
With that out of the way, lets dive into it.
RTW(Ready to wear)
It means what you'd think it means. These clothes are already made and hanging on the racks in the store, just waiting for you to pick them up. Often times, they need to be altered or tailored in some manner for them to fit just right. They are mass produced in a cut that is best suited to the average body type and shape. The issue with this is that there is no real "average" body shape. A slight hunch, and the balance of the jacket is off. But, they are generally the cheapest of all the options listed here.
MTO(Made to Order)
A made to order safari jacket
A little bit like food, these garments are made only when you order them. This means that some brands allow certain changes to be made to the design elements of the garment, but generally nothing can or will be changed about the fit and the cut of the garments. So it suffers a pretty similar pitfall to the RTW garments, but with a little bit of customization. MTO garments are fine for rough and tough items that look ok even when they don't fit perfectly, like safari jackets and the like.
MTM(Made to measure)
A block pattern for many sizes, used in MTM production
Now we're getting a little bit more serious.
These garments are made with blocks for different sizes, but because the pattern is changed according to the person's needs and body shape, the resulting garment fits better. However, no matter how a pattern is changed, the fact that the paper pattern was originally cut for the "average" man still stands, hence, changes ae limited, and is really only suited for those that do not deviate too far from the norm.
Bespoke
A bespoke suit in 21 Micron from Vitale Barberis Canonico
Generally considered the best way to go, since a pattern is struck out from scratch with only one person in mind. The changes to the pattern is also a lot more precise and varied, since the building blocks are tailored to the client's unique body shape. But this is also the most expensive option here, and for good reason.
This is an article explaining the varied processes needed for a bespoke suit if you are feeling up to the read.
A bespoke pattern, drafted from scratch
