Official "How Does This Fit?" Thread

[nicholascrawford]

Okay - on sleeves, there's a matter of personal preference, but the general target is 1/2" to 1/4". I like aiming for 1/2" because 1/4" often means no cuff showing as you move around throughout the day. You could be more aggressive than that, but it might be out of style to do that in the future.


Jacket sleeve length doesn't stand alone since it's completely dependent on your shirt's sleeve length. Vicious, it looks like the shirt length is a bit long because it's covering up almost half your hand. You can try buttoning it a notch tighter if you have two buttons or having a tailor/seamstress move the button(s) over a bit to make the cuff more snug and keep it from falling down your hand that far. In the future, I'd look at buying shirts that are shorter in the sleeve.


How does all this relate to your jacket? You might find the sleeve length to be in that 1/4"-1/2" range if the shirt were closer to your wrist (you want it to be "just" past your wrist...right now, it's well past your wrist). At this point, I'm just speculating.


So Vicious, I would probably vote for a 38R for you, but without seeing it, I can appreciate what you're saying about it being too tight. Could mean you're truly more like a 39, which makes it tough to shop.


If you read through this thread (and sadly, I've been with this one since the beginning! lol), you'll find most folks err on buying a jacket too big for them because they're running from something too tight. Keep in mind that a tailor can loosen things up just like they can tighten them. With the body being short on you (that's my personal preference talking), I think you should really entertain a R length jacket.


Try taking the 40S and the 38R to the tailor and get their advice then return the one they veto.

[Acousticfoodie]

@vicious: Those fold on the lapels means it's a little tight. What is your tape chest measurement?


EDIT: lol actually I think it's just cause you have large pecs. nm!

[nicholascrawford]

One other thing, Vicious - you've got sloping shoulders. Mine are super square (and small), as in, they go out then drop straight off. Yours flow into your arms. The same jacket that works for me won't work for you, and that's just how it goes. You want a jacket that's cut for sloping shoulders, often with very little shoulder padding.


Acoustic - Ha! I think it's from raising his arm for the photo, but yeah, I've got the pecs of a 13 year old!

[Vovan]

OK, here is my second suit. Color: black. Made by Calvin Klein in 38R. My favorite by far. Pants are a little tight and I thought they are a little too short. What do you guys think? I think that's what we would call "no break", right?

As for the jacket, once again, I can never see the cuffs from the shirt so I guess, I need to shorten the sleeves?





Second set:

[Vicious49]

I did what I should have done the 1st time and took pics with a proper fitting shirt (in my opinion anyways) and the matching suit pant. The shirt is the Calibrate trim fit that Joe featured in his Nordstroms anniversary post. I think this should better show the true length of the jacket sleeves on me. Feel free to critique the fit of the shirt or the pants as well.


Nicholas - I appreciate the criticism. I honestly do. I won't know what to change if people don't tell me what's wrong. Does the jacket still seem short to you?


Greg - I think I've figured out what it is. I need it to be tapered in a bit more. It's still too loose in the stomach area. I found that if the top button stays pretty close to where it is or moved in half a button length and the bottom button is moved in about an inch or so, it seems to fit me much better. Is there a way a tailor can taper it in a bit like that?


AcousticFoodie - I've always had large pecs. It makes shopping a pain because I always have to buy a bit bigger than I would otherwise. If not for my chest, I could buy a 38 and it would fit me much better everywhere else. Most shirts, suits, etc are made for guys who are pretty slender throughout their build.

[Vovan]

@Vicious, so check it out - you put a different shirt on and no no cuff is seen with this jacket. So in other words, some shirts will show a little cuff while some won't show any. To me the jacket sleeve length looks decent but I'm curious to see what NC has to say.

[AJ25]

@ Vicious


To me that jacket just doesn't flatter your body type well. Would love to see what one size smaller looks like on you though. The bunching of fabric around the armpits is very weird and I can't quite put my finger on what might be causing it. Probably a combo of things.


@ Vovan


For that style those pants are way too short. The high no break look really only looks good with a very tapered pant leg and those pants appear to be quite a bit fuller. To me they just scream too short because you outgrew it not short because it is being fashionable. Would look into lengthening them some more if possible or tapering them.


Jacket for the most part looks okay to me. Might want to clean up the blades though as you have some bunching right in behind the armpits. And yes I agree might want to have the sleeves shortened. Also could maybe use a little suppression through the body. I think it is worth checking out something a bit on the slimmer side just to see how it looks and feels. The black one doesn't really give you any shape or definition in my eyes.

[Vicious49]

AJ25 - good point about the bunching of the fabric. Hopefully I can still return the suit. I haven't actually worn it yet although I have removed the tags.


I'm glad I decided to post in this thread otherwise I never would have noticed it myself.

[Vovan]

@AJ, thanks. I thought the pants were too short. Unfortunately there isn't much material left to lengthen them but I'll check. I agree that compared to my tan suit this one doesn't give me much of definition - thanks for noticing!

[AJ25]

Even if there were half an inch it would make a world of difference in my eyes. If lengthening is not an option talk to your tailor about perhaps tapering a bit more.


How wide is the leg opening on those? I would guess you will want to be around 17" to make the look work. If you taper too much the jacket wouldn't look right since your pants would be slim fitting but the jacket would not be.

[Vovan]

I will check tonight for the leg opening but I don't think I would want to make it any slimmer. The pants already fit tight. Fortunately for me, they still sell those pants so I can buy the same waist but longer inseam.

[greg_s]

@vovan, it's harder to tell with black in photos but it looks pretty good. Taper the waist a bit, shorten sleeves and lengthen pants (even a little). If the shoulders are a bit big (I can't tell on my phone) you could have your tailor take in the center seam a bit as you'd likely taper the waist anyways. I guess I'm not seeing that the pant legs need much tapering, but that's just me. They do need to be lengthened, however, or you're out of luck.

[Vicious49]

You guys now have me rethinking a lot of stuff that I thought fit pretty decently. Any opinions on the fit of this blazer?


I didn't realize my mirror had so many small spots on it. Sorry for the not so clear pics.

[Vovan]

This is for Vicious. I found a great article on sleeve lengths for shirts and suit jackets.

http://www.suitsociety.com/how-to-wear-the-correct-sleeve-length-of-your-suit/


and here is another one:

http://www.gq.com/style/style-guy/su...ngth-of-sleeve

[Vicious49]

Vovan - Thanks for the links but you won't see any shirt sleeves in that pic as I put it on over a polo shirt. I'm not as worried about the sleeve length on that as the overall fit since I think the sleeves are pretty spot on length wise. They definitely found flaws with that gray suit jacket I posted yesterday so I'm seeing if this one has similar flaws or looks to be better fitting.