Let me start by saying that the British term - bespoke ties - and the American term - custom made ties -are exactly the same. We are in the custom made tie business (I am American which is the only reason I say custom made). Which means we stock fabrics; (mostly silk but some cashmere, cotton and linen etc.) and take bespoke orders for ties, bow ties, barrister ties, cummerbunds,silk wallets, pocket squares and other items.
If a customer is in a hurry and does not need a custom crafted tie we will use classic construction styles and measurements by default. Our classic ties are based on the modern man who enjoys eating in nice restaurants... and is not thin like someone in college who frequents
night clubs... Lets, say 57 by 3.75 inches using a four-in-hand knot and
a 3-fold construction or 4-fold for a grenadine. Note, a 3-fold Grenadine construction is standard for the tie industry. We use a 4-fold construction to increase the durability of our Grenadines. If someone is large or small in size we have a tie guideline on our website which is a good starting point. Then, we will answer your questions and sometimes we ask questions if we feel the measurements of your tie can be improved. At times a customer will hold steady with a measurement or construction that we don't agree with - then after a discussion we will usually make whatever is requested.
Custom weaving on the other hand, is required when we don't have a color, fabric or design that a man prefers; in theory we could weave or print any design but in practice we don't do it because the design costs and the minimum amount of silk required by the silk mill are too high. If we are already interested in certain designs and we are about to place an order with a silk mill, sometimes we can do an order for just one tie - with the hope of selling more of that design but this is an unusual event...