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September 25, 2013 Dress & Grooming, Style
How Should a Suit Fit? Your Easy-to-Follow Visual Guide Antonio 58 Comments
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How Should a Suit Fit? Your Easy-to-Follow Visual Guide
If you’re dressing on a budget, one of the most popular pieces of advice out there is to buy off-the-rack suits in the best fit you can get, and then take them to a tailor for custom adjustments. That’s good advice. You’ll find it in several articles right here on the Art of Manliness. But if you’re really going to get any benefit out of having your suits adjusted, you need to know a little bit about tailors and the kinds of adjustments they can (and can’t) make. You also need to know what a “good” fit actually looks like. Tailors vary in skill and in how they communicate the work they’re doing, so getting a suit adjusted is only going to deliver a good return if you can make your exact needs clear.
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What a “Good Fit” Looks Like
Can you guess which man had his suit tailored to fit? When you try on a suit, you’re looking for a good fit in what’s called your “natural stance.” That means standing up straight, preferably in the kind of dress shoes you’ll be wearing with your suits, with your arms relaxed at your side. It’s not actually a very natural posture for a lot of us, but it is the base from which most of our movement flows. If the suit doesn’t fit well in this stance, it’s not going to move comfortably with your body either. Practice standing in that relaxed, upright pose, and then start trying on suits in that posture. Look for a good fit in the following areas when you’re in your natural stance:
The Shoulder
A well-fitted shoulder lies flat. The seam on top of the shoulder should be the same length as the bone under it, and should meet the sleeve of the suit right where your arm meets your shoulder. If the seam that connects the sleeve to the jacket is hiked up along your shoulder bone, or dangling down on your upper bicep, the jacket is never going to sit properly. In these instances, you’ll see “ripple effects” that create lumps or wrinkles on the sleeve and the top of the jacket. Shoulders are one of the hardest parts of a jacket to adjust after construction, so don’t buy a piece with an illfitted shoulder. Odds are you’ll never be able to get it quite right with post-purchase alterations.
The Seat
The back of your trousers should be a smooth drape over the shape of your rear end — whatever that happens to be. A good fit in the seat will lie loosely against your underwear, without pulling tight against your butt or draping loosely down your thighs. You can spot a bad fit in the seat when there are horizontal wrinkles just under the buttocks (caused by too tight of a fit), or by loose, U-shaped sags on the backs of the thighs (caused by too loose of a fit). A tailor can “take in” a seat to make it tighter in the back without too much difficulty, but there’s a limit to how far he can go. If the seat was way too loose to begin with, it’s not possible to adjust it to fit without pulling the pockets out of place. Unless the pants have an unusual amount of spare cloth on the inside, seats can’t be “let out” very far to make the fit looser. Err on the side of too loose rather than too tight when buying.
Trouser Break
The “break” is the small wrinkle caused when the top of your shoe stops your trouser cuff from falling to its
full length. This should be a small, subtle feature. One horizontal dimple or crease is usually ideal. The cuff should indeed rest on the top of your shoe — there needs to be contact — but it shouldn’t do much more than that. The trouser can fall a touch longer in the back than in front, so long as it’s still above the heel of the shoe (the actual heel, not just the back of the shoe). This is one of the easiest adjustments to make, so you can rely on making some changes here if you need to. In fact, dress pants are often sold unhemmed, with the assumption that the purchaser will take the trousers to a tailor (or make use of the store’s tailor if there is one) to have the cuffs fitted.
The Jacket Closure
When you are wearing a suit and standing, you should have the jacket buttoned (you know the jacket buttoning rules, right? Click here to learn!). This means that part of the trying-on process is checking how the front of the jacket closes over your body. Close a single-breasted jacket with only one button when you’re testing the fit, even if it’s a three-button jacket. You’re looking to see if the two sides meet neatly without the lapels hanging forward off your body (too loose) or the lower edges of the jacket flaring out like a skirt (too tight). The button should close without strain, and there should be no wrinkles radiating out from the closure. A little bit of an opening at the bottom of the suit is fine, but the two halves beneath the button shouldn’t pull apart so far that you can see a large triangle of shirt above your trousers. (Ideally, you shouldn’t see any, though a bit is socially acceptable, especially when you move.)
Taking in or letting out the waist to help the jacket close more comfortably is not a difficult adjustment, but it’s one with limits. Don’t expect a tailor to be able to make huge changes here. If the jacket closure looks really bad unaltered, it’s probably due to problems beyond the waist measurement, and you should be looking for a different jacket rather than planning on getting that one altered.
Jacket Sleeve Length
“A half-inch of linen” is a good, old-fashioned guideline for the relationship between a suit jacket and the shirt worn under it — about half an inch of the shirt cuff should be visible beyond the jacket cuff. That said, it’s a general guideline, and you don’t need to get too obsessive. What you do need to be sure of is that the suit sleeve doesn’t rise above the cuff entirely — the seam where the shirt cuff joins the shirt sleeve should never be visible. Similarly, the jacket sleeve should never hide the shirt sleeve entirely. At least a small band of shirt cuff should always be visible. For most men, that ends up being a jacket sleeve that terminates just above the large bone in the wrist. But everyone’s arms are slightly different, and sleeve length is a very easy adjustment for a tailor to make, so get the best sleeve length you can (erring on the side of too long if possible) and then have it adjusted to fit.
Jacket Length
Not enough time or writing gets devoted to the overall length of men’s jackets. It’s more important than most people think! A good suit or sports jacket should fall past the waist and drape over the top of the curve formed by the buttocks. An ideal fit will cover a man down to the point where his butt starts to curve back inward, and stop there (but anywhere in that general region is okay). The hands are also a good marker here, and this is why it’s important to have your arms relaxed in your natural stance. The hem of the jacket should hit right around the middle of your hand — at or just past where the fingers meet the palm. If the hem of the jacket is sitting on top of the butt, with a small little flare in the back, it’s too short. If it falls past the bottom entirely, longer than the arms, it’s too long. The hem can be adjusted upward without too much trouble, but if you go too far the front pockets start to look out of proportion, so don’t count on more than an inch or two of adjustment here.
Jacket Collar
It’s easy to tell a well-fitted collar from a poorly-fitted one, although identifying the cause of the bad fit can be challenging. Your jacket collar should rest against your shirt collar, which in turn should rest against the back of your neck. All of these should touch lightly, without significant gaps in between. If the collar is too loose, it’s very easy to spot — there will be a gap where it’s flopping back off your neck. A tight collar is a little harder to spot on a jacket, since (unlike a shirt collar) it’s almost all in the back. Turn from side to side as needed and check it out in a mirror. A tight collar will create bunching and folds just beneath it, and often wrinkles the shirt collar underneath it as well. Bad collar fit could just mean the neck size is wrong for you, but it’s often caused by a larger fit issue: bad shoulder sizing, a back panel that’s too small for you, or even a jacket that’s constructed with more of a forward or backward tilt than your neutral stance. Since these adjustments cost time and money to fix, you want to get as good of a fit in the srcinal jacket as possible at the collar.
Four Automatic “Bad Fit” Warnings There are a couple of easy to spot problems that are major warning signs. A suit with these “bad fit” signs is one that you probably won’t ever be able to adjust to a really good fit. Unfortunately, most of them are caused by the core structure of the suit — and that means that your body just isn’t a good match for the way that particular brand makes its pieces. Be patient, try on lots of brands, and don’t compromise (unless you know it can be fixed!). If you can’t afford bespoke (made to order), an adjusted off-the-rack suit can work — but you have to start with a pretty good fit in the first place, or it’s never going to get the results you want. Unless you want to pay for alterations, be careful buying any jacket that’s showing these serious warning signs:
The Dreaded X-Shaped Button Strain
If you can see wrinkled lines radiating outward from your jacket button when you close the jacket, it’s too tight and will need adjustment. The Dreaded X, as my friend Barron over at Effortless Gent likes to call it — is not a look you seek in a wellfitted jacket. Front button strain is indicative of a bad fit in the torso, and it can go beyond just the waist size — you’re probably straining at the shoulders or in the back, too. On a more basic note, it also means the button is going to be prone to popping off. Don’t a jacket that shows strain linesit’s radiating outward from either the button. If weight you’ve or gotaccidentally an old jacket that used tobuy fit but has started showing them, possible that you’ve gained shrunk the jacket in a wash — in that case (assuming the fit was good before), you may be able to have the waist let out a little and keep the jacket in use.
Shoulder Divots & Upper Arm Wrinkles
If the sleeve of the jacket seems to dip in slightly just under the shoulder, and then flare back out again, the shoulders are too big. What you’re seeing is the shoulder padding protruding beyond your arm, and the cloth of the sleeve tucking back in underneath it. You can also get those wrinkles if you’ve got a somewhat slouched stance and the jacket is stiffly-constructed for a more upright posture. In either case you’ll need to get a smaller size, so that the seam where the shoulder meets the sleeve matches up with your body’s shoulder, or give up and try a different brand.
Shoulder Wrinkles — Top Rumpling
If you’re getting noticeable bunching on top of your shoulder, rather than on the upper sleeve, the jacket is too large in the shoulders. This could be a simple length problem, but more likely it’s that the interior space is simply too large — your shoulders aren’t broad enough, front to back, to fill out the jacket. Try a slimmer fit, if the manufacturer offers multiple styles, or a smaller size. If you’re still seeing wrinkles on the tops of your shoulders, the brand probably isn’t going to work for you.
Twisted Sleeves — Bad Sleeve Pitch
Faint spiraling wrinkles on the outside of the sleeve occur when the angle of your arm in its natural stance doesn’t match the angle that the sleeve was constructed with. The result is a sleeve that looks slightly twisted even when your arms are hanging still at your sides. A tailor can theoretically remove the sleeves and reattach them at a slightly different angle, but it’s not a simple or a cheap fix. Generally speaking, you can consider this one a deal-breaker. Keep trying until you find a jacket where the sleeves fall smooth and straight when your arms are resting in their natural stance.
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_______________________________________ Written By: Antonio Centeno Founder of Real Men Real Style Creator of The Style System – a college-level course that teaches the foundations of professional dressing so you control the message your image sends. Previous Post Next Post
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1 !
58 Comments
Tim
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Great post Antonio- Brett thanks for letting guys like this post I have found out buy fewer suits from reputable places and they make you look good. Quality just never goes out of style tim !
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Jeremy C.
Good article! Wish I could wear a suit everyday. !
John
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Nice guide! The trouble with knowing how a suit *should* fit, is then never being happy with one that *almost* fits. A word of warning- if your cu" has working buttons, sleeve length adjustment becomes slightly less simple. Also, before you buy it, think of how the jacket sits around your backside. If you have a "prominent seat" as I do, a single vent will sit open, and look bad. I always go for twin vents. !
Matthew Perryman
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Hey, a very good article. I am a man who was about 220lbs and lost 30lbs recently so all of my suits were too big and also as a Masters Student with a limited Budget I couldnt a"ord 4 new suits so I went to a local
and this article was pretty much what he told me. !
Terrence Higgins
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I have been selling suits for 35 years and I couldn't agree with you more, you are right on target about everything. The trick is to convey this message to the man buying the suit, but all salesman should know these facts. Those who don't should be avoided as amateurs. The dreaded X shape is not correctable and when I see it I shudder. Usually very skinny men have this problem. I also rarely find a man that is actually the size they think they are as pertains to the drop. Muscular men have an illusion of themselves being smaller in the waist then they really are. Remember suit trousers are di "erent than slacks. Too skinny of a leg creates a bell look to the suit. I also hate too long of sleeves and too long of trousers. Instructing men in this requires tact, which you possess. I shall inform all my colleagues of your sight as it is elementary. hank you for your insight, erry Higgins
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josh_k
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I bought a new suit for my graduation from seminary this past April. For the first time I stepped up a to a real quality men's store and got some alterations done. The guy was a magician and the suit fits incredibly well. I know some of us won't wear a suit on an ever day basis, but whatever your needs it really is worth going quality and getting a few adjustments rather than just picking up the generic special o" the rack. Also, the salesmen at a quality store know clothes a lot better than the college kid working at the department store. They'll help you find something that looks good on you and is practical for your needs. Also, John, you are so right about the single vs. double vents in the jacket. I have the same problem. !
Wolfgang
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I love everything about this post. Details on what a tailor can and can't do with a suit is exactly what I've been looking for.
!
Caleb
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In reference to the jacket length, this is a good post if this is your first suit or you only plan on having one. However, shorter jackets are very stylish if worn properly. !
Brock
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his is a pillar post, Antonio and Brett. Love the illustration style! Keep 'em coming. Oh, and I see lots of guys these days with their pants hemmed extra short, showing some colorful sock. It's trendy, for sure, but kind of cool, especially for shorter guys (it gives an appearance of extra height). What do you think about this? -B !
Shane
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I would love to go out and buy myself a suit as I am nearing the end of my part-time job for college looking into start my career, but I never know where to go for good quality, yet a"ordable suits. This is a good start for me at least to know what to look for in a suit to fit right. hanks! !
Brian
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My problem with buying suits is my built: just shy of 50 inches in the chest and very meaty in the glutes and legs. Every suit I can find that will fit me seems to be built for someone 6' 5" and I'm only 5' 8"! Usually I can do okay with the jackets, but every pair of trousers has the crotch somewhere down by my knees!. !
David Tong |
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Excellent as always, Antonio. Having lost a few inches o " my gut and added some width to my shoulder/chest, I found a couple of my jackets ill-fitting. Good thing they weren't/aren't exactly expensive but still annoying. he problem with cheaper jackets is that I always struggle to justify the cost of altering them. At 5'7, it's hard finding o"-the-rack jackets that fit reasonably well yet not too long for my frame.
After a while, it seems to make more sense having them made, though the thought of changing body size in the future bothers me (still trying to shed an inch or two). Dave !
Aless
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HIS IS WONDERFULL I TELL YOU ! Sry for caps, but it was needed. !
Eddie
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I have the same issue as Brian. I am 68.5" tall and about 200lbs even. I have a 34in waist, 17.5 in neck and a broad chest and wide shoulders. I love lifting weights but heaven forbid I get any bigger, I'll never find anything nice to wear. If I buy any thing in large, its too tight, XL is too long. !
Tomas
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Spot on: informative, easy to read and very useful in everyday life. This sort of articles is the reason I became a fan of the site. Thanks an keep them coming! !
Rick John
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If you need advice contact me. I was in the clothing business for many years. Pro Bono !
Jared
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I heard that to test the jackets closure you should be able to put your hand between the button and you stomach and have it fit snugly. Do you know if this is a good method? !
Lindsey
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Wonderful article! One thing to add to the pants portion. Please explain how suit trousers should be worn at the natural waist. It does no good to get them hemmed in this position and then wear them around your hips. The mulitple breaks, oh how they drive me crazy! !
Larry
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I've worn a suit maybe twice in the past fifteen years, but I'll keep in mind for the next time! ))) !
Steve
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Although I don't need this information myself, this is a great guide for the beginner/person buying their first suit who needs a few pointers.
If you are about to embark on your first suit buying adventure, I can tell you with hand on heart that there is nothing better than walking out in a well fitting suit, I don't get to do it nearly enough, but when I do, I feel great, and always nice to get compliments from the ladies! Being "suited and booted" is probably the best look we males can get...if our gear fits us properly. Oh, and Caleb makes a sound point, a lot of modern suits are cut quite short these days, and it is now an acceptable look (which gives the shorter guys a bit more scope/choice when suit hunting) !
NeoVG
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Funfact: The wrongs are either hipster or hip hop. !
Darren
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@Brian, you'd be surprised how inexpensive (relatively speaking) custom suits are. I have a tailor in Siena, Italy who makes custom suits for me for 700 Euro (about 1100) in REALLY nice wool. Better one good one than two or three bad ones... !
Darren
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P.S. My father used to have custom suits made in Singapore. 250 bucks. !
cbrand
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hanks for yet another great article. My teenage son is in a mixed jazz choir and the young men are required to wear matching suits which were ordered from a well known, men's retailer. I went with my son for his "fitting" and I had to practically arm wrestle with the in-house tailor and salesperson to make many of the changes you noted above. They kept saying, "These will be expensive alterations etc. etc. etc." I said that I was happy to pay for them. Enough venting.... I have a question about break. My son is small and trim. He seems better served with a more Euro cut suit. Is it acceptable to forego the break? (Note, in the first picture it looks like the trousers have little or no break.). Also, how short is too short in the jacket? !
Ryan
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Interesting article, helped pinpoint why wearing suits is always so unpleasant for me. My measurements are so far away from "standard" that (based on the advice here) nothing short of bespoke will ever fit correctly...for the shirt/jacket alone, di"erent measurements put me at everything from M to XXL. Pulled out the one sport coat I own; sure enough, pretty much every "bad fit" indicator in the article was present in one direction or another. Kind of funny. Fortunately, it's all academic since I'm never called upon to wear them; there's no way I'd ever
be able to justify dropping the scratch for something quality. Even the "inexpensive" suits Darren mentioned are jaw-droppingly pricy for those of us in the thrift store tax bracket. !
sikandar ali
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sir, a very good and informative article. Could you also please keep us updated with the latest fashions/style in vouge ie single breasted ) one button, two buttons, three buttone)/double breasted, the collar/lapple style etc etc . Thanks. !
Dan Harrison
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I am a suit specialist for a British company called TM Lewin, check their youtube channel, in particular the "Know Your Size" videos to see how we do it. here are also other useful videos on their from style to packing for a business trip presenyed by, our Head of Creative Design, John Francomb. !
bgl
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I wear suits regularly, but here in the south, it's extremely uncomfortable to wear long sleeved shirts in the summer; ergo, I wear short sleeved dress shirts with suits. Any suggestions for jacket length with short sleeved dress shirts? Forgoing such shirts in a Georgia summer is not an option. !
Rishi Chullani
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his is a great article. Unfortunately, it seems like while most men pay a lot of attention to that which covers their torso, they don't pay enough attention to their trousers. he points you mention about how the trousers should fit on the back side, in addition to the important quarter break as opposed to half or full break have been really well covered and illustrated here. his is definitely a very comprehensive guide covering how a suit should fit and the elements that need to be paid attention to. !
Sue
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What fitting suggestions or tailoring adjustments are made for osteoporosis? This stooping posture causes an unbuttoned jacket to flare open at the bottom in the front, while the back of the coat sticks out from the waist and hip area. !
Sean
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I think its worth mentioning that certain aspects of the fit may depend on current fashion trends.
One that comes to mind is that it has become fashionable for some suits to be just a little bit longer in length nowadays. I purchased a beautiful TM Lewin slim fitting suit just the other day and it fit perfectly with the only adjustment required being hemming of the trousers. The length of the jacket was slightly longer than what I was used to but it was designed this way and looked very sharp! !
Justin
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It's hard to find a suit that fits well without going to a tailor you purchase it, Esp if you buy a suit a zara or TK max !
Ian ST John
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A tailor can only do so much before labour costs start to approach bespoke levels. Nowadays, suit separates are available form several big box brands in both classic (heavy) and modern (slim) fits. This should enable the majority of guys to attain a reasonable initial fit, which may be fine tuned by their tailor. If all else fails, there are always blazer and slacks, Roger Moore is rarely seen in anything else. !
Gandalf
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Great post. The illustrations are totally spot on! Even gave me a chuckle. !
Feminist Kate
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Is anything in this world more stylish, charismatic and, dare I say it, sexy, than a man in a wellfitted suit? No, sir, there is not. !
Captain
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Great post, thanks for sharing. Do the rules for "fitting" change as current fashion trends change? !
Will
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I always love to see a perfect and clean sleeve pitch. !
AED
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Great info! I knew a lot, but still a few of these I didn't know. I'm lucky (in suit shopping terms, anyway) as I have a very ''medium'' built. between 5'10'' and 5'11'', 32 inch waist, very average arm and leg lengths. Many suits fit very well o" the rack. Still even better with some fitting
oug o course !
Daniel
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When the article says things like 'a half inch of the shirt should be visible' please not that this is a general rule of thumb. Think proportions. Small men may need less than that, some larger men may need more. !
dave
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A few things: changing up the bottons for genuine bone, antler or shell makes a suit or jacket look more expensive, and is relatively cheap. But get your tailor to do it if you don't know how to sew bottons properly. @ Brock - trendy may be fashionable but it's seldom well dressed. Hipster fit is too Euro fashionista to fly as 'well dressed in the US'. !
rahul mishra
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Nice informative articles to those who want to know details of tailored clothing!! Great guide for suit buying as well. !
Sam disuja
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I agree: clothes make a big di "erence! I find it really hard to find good fitting t-shirts even though I'm not big at all. I just have broad shoulders and a slightly smaller waist. Everything seems to be made for people the other way round. !
Mark G
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Great article! My tailor actually just called as I was reading this to let me know my new suit is ready :) !
Kay
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Hi guys I live in a suit free environment so can't ask friends Is is normal when wearing a tailored coat or jacket to have rather limited arm movement (After years of wearing du#e coats etc., I have bought a 'proper' coat and wonder if it's too small or if it's normal that the back feels tight when I lift my arms or stretch them out)? Cheers. Kay !
Dan DeSantis
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I am distressed with the look of men's suits these days. They look like they don't fit and are too
small. I believe that the suit length should reach the tip of one's thumb, not the middle of the palm of the hand. Also. to see a tie sticking below the button of the suit jacket is to me, appalling. No matter what the fashion is, I would never where a suit like you describe. !
Toby flenderson
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Speaking of lousy fitting suits, I nominate Joel McHale on The Soup. His dressers have managed to commit EVERY fitting error listed in this article. I would bet any random suit found in a Goodwill store would fit better than what this poor guy is made to wear. !
Scott
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hank you for your great advice, it really helped me in buying my first suit. !
Joseph
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Nice article to get the basics right. here is only one thing I would slightly disagree with or at least comment on: In my personal experience the length of jackets has become a little more open to personal tastes. I found several designers to produce jackets today, that are a little shorter than a few years ago and also a little shorter than your suggestion. I personally find jackets that end around your thumb's first knuckle (regarding to your pictures exactly between the "perfect" and the "too short" fit) to look a little more fashionable. I had my last tailor made suit made that way and am very happy with the length and receive a lot of compliments. However, this only works with slim-fit, two-button, single-breasted suits. With a conservative suit you might be better o " with the "classic" length. !
Rob
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Great article! Tried on a few jackets out shopping today and thanks to this could immediately classify them as badly made ;-) Thanks ! !
Joshua
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Salutations! I'm a 36 Long. I have discovered that finding suits of that size can be somewhat tasking. My funds are limited and the most expensive suit that I can a "ord as of now is somewhere in the Men's Warehouse range. Is buying a 38 long then getting it tailored to closer to a 36 possible? !
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