Custom-made

6/4/2025

In today’s highly competitive retail world, customer service can make the difference between keeping customers or losing them to a competitor. Businesses wanting to go the extra mile to satisfy their customers find ways to individualize their services, which may include customizing their products. Whether it is a sharp, custom suit or a one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry, these two locally owned businesses are helping Iowans express their personal style with craftsmanship and care.

 

Tailored to you

Langel & Woods Clothiers has been creating custom clothing in the metro since the early 1990s when Pat Langel launched the business. Later, Tony Woods joined the company. 

Customers who visit the locally owned and operated West Des Moines-based store range in demographic, style preference and national visibility, but they’re all in the good hands of a “certified master bespoke clothier.”

In the past, the store has clothed a former United States president; countless professional athletes, coaches and celebrities; and executives from Fortune 500 companies.

“If you can imagine it, we can make it to the look you want but, more importantly, to the fit you need,” Colby Elmitt, partner at Langel & Woods, said.

This has resulted in tailoring everything from suits, tuxedos, sport coats, blazers, dress shirts, blouses, vests, trousers, slacks, overcoats and more for both men and women.

Customers frequent the establishment when they have an occasion where they want to look their best — a college career fair, a first job interview, a wedding day, a gala or presentation — or simply for a wardrobe refresh.

Elmitt described his role as providing clients with a memorable experience that includes consultation and support to produce an outfit that looks and feels better than anything else in their wardrobe.

“While that sounds bold, it’s the feedback we receive and the results we strive for,” he said.

Customization at Langel & Woods focuses on equally important features: the look and the fit.

“That’s where we separate ourselves from an ‘off the rack’ option,” Elmitt explained.

The customization starts from the very first interaction. What is the customer looking for? A certain color, pattern or fabric material? A custom lining with memorable pictures? Adding contrasting stitching to the lapel or sleeve buttonholes?

“Sometimes the array of options can be overwhelming for clients, which is where we can provide recommendation or feedback,” Elmitt said. “But there are other clients that love the opportunity to select every detail. It’s their suit, made specifically for them.”

The fit is the other crucial piece of customization.

“Each piece of clothing is fit specifically for your body,” Elmitt said. “There’s a weird science behind body styles, and, while tailoring can help, there is no better fit than a custom garment.”

The team at Langel & Woods firmly believes that people enjoy the power of choice — the choice of style and fit in every possible aspect.

“Going custom with Langel & Woods gives them that power versus walking into a store or shopping online only to be presented with limited variations of styles in predetermined size options,” Elmitt said. “Going back to the fit: We offer custom options because people should feel as good as they look. Our clothing supports each customer’s body style in a way that is comfortable to them.”

Because of this, the store’s customer base is loyal, which helps improve the business’ bottom line.

Four recent happy customers are members of a nationally recognized barbershop quartet. They were looking for a three-piece suit that would fit different body styles and still look sharp together on stage. The group selected a forest green fabric with a wooden, brown button.

“But what got interesting was when they each selected their own lining that resonated with them, their favorite color for stitching, interior fabrics and monogrammed verbiage,” Elmitt said. “Four individuals with matching custom green suits on stage but, inside the suit, were four different examples of customization based on body fits, style expressions and preferences to create something unique and special.”

This is a shining example of why customers seek out Langel & Woods for the experience of true custom clothing at affordable prices with exceptional customer service.

“They seek us out because of the compliments they receive in public after wearing their first Langel & Woods product,” Elmitt said. “Once they experience what we have to offer, they come back without hesitation, knowing their clothing will fit them right, and it will look fantastic.”

 

Worn with meaning

When it comes to jewelry, customization can mean different things to different people.

At Josephs Jewelers in West Des Moines, the staff caters to exactly that.

Customers can build a piece from scratch — think an engagement ring using a loose diamond and a hand-drawn sketch. The process often starts with someone coming into the store and looking into the cases for inspiration or bringing an idea to the table. One of Josephs’ talented jewelers can sketch something up, or perhaps customers bring in their own mock-ups. The possibilities, as they say, are endless.

If a customer does want a custom piece, it has to be “cast” off-site because Josephs doesn’t have casting capabilities. Casting is the process of creating a mold and pouring molten metal into it to form the basic structure of the piece.

But what the company does boast is a team of eight bench jewelers who can do things like set stones, melt down gold into something new (like a family heirloom that’s too fragile to wear but whose gold can still be used), or restore broken or vintage pieces to wearable condition.

Josephs also has two appraisers and a laser engraver, which can be used for customization such as incorporating the handwriting of a loved one onto a bracelet. A jeweler can scan an image into the machine, which then engraves it onto the jewelry piece.

Trisha Joseph, vice president of Josephs, has been with the family company full-time since 2006, although she actually started in the shipping department at age 12. At the store, she oversees the marketing and advertising department, as well as charitable donations and sponsorships, but she spends most of her time on the sales floor.

She explained Josephs has made custom pieces like ash-holder necklaces, dog tags and cufflinks from the barrel of an antique gun. They have created a lot of lockets with photos or engraving, too, and even jewelry with fingerprints or dog paws engraved on it.

“Anything can be made or implemented into a piece of jewelry that can be worn and appreciated,” Joseph said.

Often, when folks come in asking for customization, it is about modifying something the store already owns. They will take a designer’s current piece found in the store’s display cases and transform it into exactly what the customer wants.

One of the recent special pieces Joseph has helped with came after the death of the store’s former appraiser. His son came in with his father’s glass eye and had a custom ring created, complete with engraving on the side of the ring. 

“That was very personal because now his son has that,” she says. “Even though he doesn’t necessarily wear it every day, he literally has a part of his dad that he gets to remind him of.” 

The staff as a whole thought it was one of the “coolest” things they could do.

Why offer so many ways to customize?

“Jewelry is very personal and is an expression of something unique to that person,” Joseph said. “It almost always represents something.”

Recently, on Mother’s Day — one of the store’s biggest holidays — customers came in asking for things like engraved frames or setting stones in new pieces.

Another great time to create a custom piece is when customers want to celebrate a milestone in life or find something unique to add to their wardrobe.

For both Langel & Woods Clothiers and Josephs Jewelers — as well as the varied other area businesses that customize products — customer service is about much more than helping patrons find the right product. It is about providing them the opportunity to make those products unique to them. ♦