ˈtailor-ˌmade, a.
Also tailormade.
1. Made by a tailor; esp. said of women's garments of a heavier type, close-fitting, and plain in style, properly when made by a tailor (as distinguished from a dressmaker); hence ellipt. as n.
| 1873 Punch 20 Sept. 112/1, I shuddered to behold these words, ‘Tailor-made costumes for ladies’. 1882 M. E. Braddon Mt. Royal II. x. 221 Gowns of dark brown serge which simulated the masculine simplicity of tailor-made garments. 1892 Daily News 29 Mar. 2/4 Braid is the favourite trimming for tailor-mades, now that fur is almost out of season. 1906 Daily Chron. 1 Sept. 4/7 If ‘tailor-made’ means anything, it means..distinct from dressmaker-made on the one hand and factory-made on the other. 1932 Auden in Rev. Eng. Stud. (1978) Aug. 284 She's been having her tailormades altered. 1981 A. Lurie Lang. Clothes viii. 222/1 The ordinary woman..might wear..a..wool or linen suit (the ‘tailor-made’) with a shirtwaist. |
2. a. fig. Made such by the tailor, i.e. by one's dress. b. transf. Dressed in tailor-made garments.
| 1832 Carlyle in Fraser's Mag. V. 386/1 If such worship for real God-made superiors showed itself also as worship for apparent Tailor-made superiors. 1896 Westm. Gaz. 1 May 8/2 Some severely tailor-made ladies were waiting in the entrance-hall. 1904 Daily Chron. 28 May 8/1 The ‘tailor⁓made girl’, like the ‘frilly girl’, has her opportunities upon the river. |
3. Made to answer a specific demand or requirement; perfectly suited for a particular purpose.
| 1896 G. B. Shaw in Sat. Rev. 7 Nov. 494/1 The public were tired of tailormade plays, and were ripe for a revival of colour and costume. 1897 ― in Ibid. 1 May 470/2 A theatre which is panelled, and mirrored, and mantelpieced like the first-class saloon of a Peninsular and Oriental liner..is no place..for anything except tailor-made drama and farcical comedy. 1938 Cine-Kodak News Aug. 10/1 (heading) Tailor-made showings. 1946 Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch 24 Nov. 12 b The work is another venture in the science of redesigning plants and animals through genetics to bring forth ‘tailor-made’ species. 1953 Economist 30 May (Suppl.) 9/1 The tailormade molecules which form the long fibres used in weaving Terylene. 1958 Spectator 14 Feb. 194/3 A seat tailor-made..for the Liberals to dance further fandangoes on the carefully laid plans of their rivals. 1963 [see peg n.1 1 e]. 1970 G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard i. 14 It's a job almost tailor⁓made for you. 1972 [see inside a. d]. 1980 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts Mar. 185/2 The tailor-made building had arrived. |
4. Designating a ready-made (as opp. hand-rolled) cigarette. Freq. ellipt. as n. slang (orig. U.S.).
| 1924 ‘Digit’ Confessions 20th Cent. Hobo 12 Tailor-mades, ordinary ready-made cigarettes. 1930 J. Devanny Bushman Burke 88 He smoked ‘tailor-mades’ now. 1945 N.Z. Geographer I. 23 The background of all this is tobacco. There are but few pipes, and ‘tailor-made’ cigarettes are only a luxury. ‘Roll your own’ is on most lips. 1952 E. Wilson Equations of Love 29 Just a match... I don't smoke tailor-mades. 1955 People (Austral.) 1 June 8/1 Leopold..was..told he had been reported for possessing contraband, a ‘tailor-made’ cigarette. Leopold didn't even know what a ‘tailor-made’ cigarette was. 1962 N. Freeling Love in Amsterdam iii. 145 Martin stayed quiet after distributing his last tailormades. 1974 D. Sears Lark in Clear Air iii. 40, I went and bought a package of Turret tailor-made cigarettes and I lit one. |
Hence ˈtailor-ˌmadeness; so ˈtailor-make.
| 1898 Daily News 22 Jan. 6/5 Almost all the gowns of tailor-make were turned back in front with white, red, or cream-colour. 1900 I. Banks in 19th Cent. XLVIII. 790 A perfectly fitting gown, elegantly ‘smooth’, though plain in its tailor-made-ness. |