tailor-made meaning: definition, quotations

tailor-made

adj

Made by a tailor, especially if made to order; bespoke.

Perfectly appropriate to some specific occasion or purpose; made to one's specific requirements.

Any local businesses looking to use rail freight now have a tailor-made facility ready and waiting.2023 December 27, Richard Foster, “New rail freight terminal leads the way”, in RAIL, number 999, page 41:

noun

A piece of clothing made by a tailor; (specifically), a dress made by a tailor rather than by a dressmaker, and hence plainer in style.

Leonora always appeared to me at her best in a blue tailor-made.1915, Ford Madox Hueffer [i.e., Ford Madox Ford], chapter I, in The Good Soldier […], London: John Lane, The Bodley Head; New York, N.Y.: John Lane Company, →OCLC:
A breitschwantz stole edged with ermine is knotted over this black woollen tailor-made.1952, Art et la Mode, volume 74:

2 more examples

She was in a black tailor-made. A wide-mesh veil came down from the rim of a small black straw hat.1954, Ian Fleming, “The Silver Phantom”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 96:
‘But you must remember, Bili, that now in Paris you can practically go to a ball in a tailormade.’1973, Christina Stead, The Little Hotel, Text Classics, published 2016, page 119:

Slang Synonym of civvy (“manufactured cigarette”).