Bespoke fashion clothier helping build confidence in West Central clientele

Rachel Kroeger

Staff

February 17, 2025

WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN – A mobile tailor is helping people across the West Central region and beyond find their confidence through clothing.

Jared Jaquish, founder and owner of J. Bradley Bespoke, said he never imagined himself working in the clothing industry prior to his first job out of college.

“I was 22 years old, coming out of college and just looking for employment – like many of us are at that age – I came across this company, the world’s largest manufacturer of custom clothing,” he said.

Even after landing a job at that company, Jaquish said he still wasn’t anticipating building a career in men’s fashion or custom clothing.

Over time, however, he said his passion grew.

“I knew when I was choosing a career in sales that I didn’t necessarily care at the time what industry it was,” he said. “I trusted that my skill set, drive and abilities could be assets to any organization. All I knew was that I wanted to be with a good group of people and a company that had a set of principles I valued. I knew if I found this in a company, it would bring out my best qualities and lead me to individual success and personal growth.”

In his first year working for the custom clothing company, Jaquish said he had some success, and by his third year, he started falling in love not only with helping people with their clothing “but also with seeing the deep client relationships that began forming.”

“It’s not just about the clothing itself, but about what it can do for people,” he said. “It boosts confidence, sets a standard for how one chooses to present themselves to the world, helps overcome insecurities or fears related to one’s image and offers a sense of personal comfort.”

‘It’s who I am’

As he worked on his craft, Jaquish said people would often ask about what got him into tailorship and custom clothing – a question he said would elicit childhood memories.

“It would take me back to when I was 10, 11 or 12 years old,” he said. “I would put an outfit on – it could have been something as simple as my school outfit or my day-to-day attire – and I would always have to look at myself three or four times in a full-length mirror to make sure my outfit was on point, my hair was right, the outfit was cohesive and well-balanced. I can remember my mom always yelling at me to hurry the heck up.”

Reflecting on those memories, Jaquish said he realized he ended up exactly where he belonged.

“I’ve always been someone that absolutely loves serving people and putting smiles on people’s faces, and I felt I could do a really good job of that with clothing,” he said. “What I ended up finding out is that I was in the absolute perfect industry.”

Jaquish said when he was younger, he would put “meticulous” effort into his appearance because it helped him overcome his insecurities.

Now, he said dressing up to “feel good” about himself has become a larger part of his identity – personally and professionally.

“It’s who I am now, it’s what I value and it’s not just because of my profession – I really enjoy looking nice,” he said. “I view it as a measure of self-respect, and I see it as a standard for how I want to present myself and show up for the day – not only for myself but for others, too.”

Now, as the founder of J. Bradley Bespoke – his custom-clothing and mobile tailor business – Jaquish said his goal is to spread awareness about the power of clothing and help build confidence in his clientele.

Tailored style

As a tailor of custom-made men’s fashion, Jaquish said he often sports the best of his personal style.

“When I’m in the markets I serve, I’m almost always dressed in a full suit or sport coat with a tie,” he said. “It’s pretty rare for me to dress casually during the week. When I’m out marketing myself, I sometimes sense that people might think I expect them to dress the same way, and I want to make it clear that this is just my personal style – it’s not something they have to replicate.”

On J. Bradley Bespoke’s website (jbradleybespoke.com), Jaquish outlines his five-step process for establishing a relationship with a client and building their perfect outfit – or wardrobe.

Part of that process, he said, involves getting to know his clients on a deeper level to ensure the desired outcome of a well-fitted outfit that aligns with their style and fashion goals.

“I want to get to know your style preferences, but I also want to ask you deeper questions – like how do you truly want to show up for your day, for your clients, for your firm, for your company, for your family and your community?” he said. “I really want to dive deep with that question and ask people to be honest about how they want to show up for themselves and for others and the environments they’re in. Then I want to help clients curate a wardrobe that matches how they truly want to see themselves dressing.”

Achieving a curated, personal outfit or wardrobe that reflects his clients’ style, Jaquish said, doesn’t necessarily have to involve a sport coat and tie.

“Let’s have you be the best-dressed person in the room, in alignment with what you want to wear,” he said. “Whether it’s a casual zip vest, a button-down shirt and a pair of jeans, a full suit, a sport coat outfit or a branded-logo polo with slacks and dress shoes. Whatever it is, I just want to help and I want people’s outfits to be cohesive, well-fitting and sharp. I want to help people find pieces that fit and that complement their lifestyle and outfit preferences.”

Jaquish said through his services, he provides convenience and confidence to those who have the desire but may lack the knowledge to make informed fashion decisions.

“I want to provide people the convenience of not having to go out and do something they maybe don’t have a lot of knowledge, expertise or confidence in,” he said. “I never want to put people in a position of making fast-fashion decisions or impulse decisions. I really want to sit down with you and have you pick pieces that you know you’re going to wear, that are going to fit and are timeless and versatile – pieces that will be in your closet for years.”

Jaquish said in his opinion – there’s a demographic and a clientele in West Central Wisconsin that “want options that are a bit nicer than some of your big-box-retail options.”

“I think it’s difficult when you get to be between 30 and 60 years old – many people are settling down with their families and kids, or they’re deep in their careers, or both – life’s just busy, and they don’t have the time to go spend countless hours in a retail store shopping for clothing and trying a bunch of pieces on.”

Jaquish said some might even avoid stepping out of their fashion comfort zone for fear of being noticed and standing too far out of the crowd.

“There are fears and insecurities that can come from the external world – like what other people might think if they start changing how they look,” he said.

Your mobile tailor

J. Bradley Bespoke, Jaquish said, is a mobile tailor service, which means he travels across the region to meet with his clients.

“I travel to the markets, meet with my clients – either at their home or their office – and they get a handful of outfits from me from time to time based on their needs or what events they might have coming up,” he said. “The markets I cover the most are the Eau Claire and La Crosse Metro (areas), and then Wausau is a market (where) I’m really trying to capture attention.”

Jaquish said he is also working to expand into the Superior and Duluth, Minnesota, markets, as well as working toward an Eau Claire-based showroom.

“In the near future, I’m going to have a luxury showroom,” he said. “Then at some point, I aspire, or hope, to have a showroom in each of those markets.”

Jaquish said he chooses to partner with “premium mills” to access only the best textiles and fabrics for his clients’ clothes.

“A lot of those mills and fabrics – Dormeuil, Scabal, Reda, Drago – derive from Italy, England and Asia,” he said. “If you did some deep research on those mills, you would find a rich history about them. You would find things regarding their quality, how long they’ve been crafting beautiful fabrics – fabrics like wools, cottons, silks, linens, cashmeres and blends.”

Jaquish said his main job is to help his clients make fashion decisions and take around 40-50 “really, really good measurements,” prior to sending the design off to his Mississippi-based manufacturer.

“(I need to) understand how the math works in relation to an individual’s measurements,” he said. “This helps me determine the finished measurements for their clothing, ensuring the product fits their unique body shape properly. Then, there’s also the art of creating the outfit.”

That art, Jaquish said, involves asking not only a lot of questions but a lot of the right questions.

“That’s one of the reasons a lot of my clients choose to partner with me – my ability to ask the right questions, listen attentively, respond appropriately, understand them and their lifestyle and then guide them toward the right fabrics and outfits based on all of this,” he said. “They provide the blueprint, and I have the ability to run with it.”

The desire for premier men’s fashion, Jaquish said, has been on the rise – a fact he said was solidified after he attended the Chicago Collective.

“It’s a premier national menswear show in Chicago – one of the largest in the (country) – and there’s a lot of great things happening in the world of men’s tailoring and men’s fashion,” he said. “It’s really going to be making a shift for the better. I really think you’re going to start seeing people dress up again in the near future.”

Jaquish said, just as he did, people are seeing that fashion and the act of dressing nicely goes far “beyond the clothing.”

“In a social-media-driven world and far more anxieties out there, there are far more individuals who don’t have the confidence they aspire to have,” he said. “I’m out walking around trying to solve that through clothing because I think how we choose to put ourselves together each morning truly does matter and helps increase our confidence and self-esteem.”

Showing up for himself, Jaquish said, is exactly one of the reasons he wanted to start his own business – which is nearing six months in operation.

In the industry for 10 years, he said he always had aspirations to work for himself and build a business.

“It was just the right time for me to go after a long-held dream of mine…,” he said. “I wanted to transition away from being a salesperson and into being a business owner. I wanted to have the freedom and flexibility to make my own decisions and to utilize the money the business was generating in ways that would provide my clients with the absolute best experience and products I believed they deserved – as well as support the communities that so graciously support me.”