Suit fit check!
Hoping to get some feedback here! And also just reporting back in case there are people in similar fit situations as me who could get something out of this.
So I decided to go with suitsupply custom/mtm (in person) to try for a simple suit that fits me decently. I'm an afab butch woman with no body mods at all (no T/ top surgery) and I have a significant bust (30F ish) so the main challenge here is the shoulder-to-chest-to-waist-to-hip line being a bit more of a rollercoaster than your average amab/cis guy. I'm not looking for a perfect fit especially with a place like suitsupply that isn't really set up for it! What I am hoping to get is something that fits pretty well from a masc tailoring perspective - I'm not looking for suggestions to emphasize my waist or chest, but I'm also not trying to "pass" as male either so no need to suggest stuff to totally hide my figure either. I'm going for comfort, clean lines, and as much of a 'moderate'/relaxed fit as suitsupply can offer.
With the above in mind, here are photos from the initial fitting - lighting wasn't amazing but I tried to brighten them up in ps. It's made up in a VBC 21 micron, one of their entry level fabrics. Alterations suggested by the stylist (& me) were to take the waist of the trousers in a little (pictured) and shorten the leg just a little. Decided to go with something a tiny bit shorter than the longer leg here - hoping it'll be like, a quarter break?
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cont. There's definitely something going on at the waist but I'm not sure adding more would help based on the side view? Also noticing some stuff at the back of the legs. The stylist said it was a pelvis tilt thing which makes sense to me. The legs also look really full from the side but pretty slim from the front, not sure if that's a problem at all tho? The sleeve pitch is better than I expected given how most stuff fits off the rack on me, and I'm not 100 percent sure I'm standing normally for me (I tense up a ton when someone points a camera at me, but I tried to chill as much as I could here)
Overall I feel good in it! I'm pleased with the outcome and excited to wear it. But I'd love to get some suggestions re: improvements that could be made, recommendations on what I should try next time (whether it's at suitsupply or elsewhere!), etc.
Yeah this is pretty solid!
Shoulders look mostly good, back looks mostly clean. The only real issues are where the sleeve meets the back, though I wouldn't know how to resolve them, it's possible some of it is due to pose (how you stand and how your arms and shoulders are held), which may be better or worse when you're fully natural and not posing. That sort of thing I'd want to talk to a proper tailor about, certainly not some internet bozo (me.) I think the waist is a little tighter than it needs to be, see how it's pulling at the button? But the back is pretty clean so it's only barely tigher than it needs to be, and usually the fix here is to let out a little at the side seams, asymmetrically, so you let out the front more than the back (or only the front.)
Trousers: I feel like it's pinned (in the last photo) a little too tightly but I don't have a reference for how it looks the way it is currently cut. One of the downsides of the skin-tight waist fit is if you have a big meal, or if you're walking/standing/sitting in different poses (sitting on a couch is different from office chair, is different from an acute-angle car seat for example). A little bit bigger and then using a belt to get that last quarter to half inch circumference is fine, and tends to work more easily. I see what you mean about a wider side profile than front profile; I don't know that this is a problem unless you don't like it. Length in the last picture looks different between legs, I assume one is pinned?
Yeah I feel like adding more to the front only is the solution! might even allow for more suppression in the back? idk. The trousers are pinned tighter looking than they feel - I wonder if they slipped down or if it's the way I'm standing. They were definitely too big (slipping down a ton) but after they were pinned they still had plenty of slack in the waist. curious to see how they come out after alterations. I'll get them let out again if they're pulling like that still. I have a super short waist with a high hip so something slipping down even half an inch can have a big effect on fit.
And yeah the legs are different lengths but they're both pinned. the longer one is what I opted for, but the place it's pinned at is awkward with the cuff so it looks a bit strange. I sometimes feel like most of my trousers are a little too short so I'm bullying myself into trying a break haha.
I wonder if the back bunching has something to do with plugging my chest circumference into suitsupply's block - a lot of mens stuff that fits my chest in the front has a lot of excess at the back.
Overall I think it fits decently well. Most of my thoughts are pretty nit-picky.
SuSu is better at alterations so I'd consider reducing the back rise on the pants slightly (you can try this by just pinching or pinning the fabric a bit right below the waistband at the seam). This will help get the clean line in the back on the pants some. I think the pin job is also fairly aggressive, the seat looks too tight now imo.
The back and upper chest are struggling as mentioned. To my eye it looks like a combo of the button stance not falling at your natural waist (basically unfixable w/o going with an entirely different pattern) and there not being enough space thru the upper chest as is expected from the pattern. The hips might also be slightly too small but I don't see other signs that would indicate that tbh.
SUPER nit-picky: Something is off with the shoulder on the left in the first pic. Might just be how you're standing or the jacket needs a little tug down to fix it. The other side may have the same issue but I can't tell with the lighting.
I suspect this is the issue with the chest and the back. SuSu's patterns are probably more of an even split between the front and back and you need the back taken in while also needing more space in the front
I suggested shortening the back rise to the stylist and she was pretty firm on it being pelvic tilt & the fabric. Rise was my first thought though as an amateur home sewist tho haha. Maybe I'll ask for a second round of alterations, especially if the seat is too tight after this round.
Do you think the button stance is too low or too high? Or is it hard to tell? I guess I'll be able to properly figure that out later haha.
I have major shrimp body from being a working artist so I would not be surprised if I am standing weird (or very asymmetrically, I work on a cintiq so my left arm is raised most of my workday and I'm sure it's created some asymmetry)
I'm a bit partial to lowering the back rise bc it looks exactly like the issue I had with my Hall Madden MTM suit lol. It's also SO easy to test, just pinch the fabric up/hike up the trousers a bit and see what happens to the back crease line
maybe not ideal but would braces help with that too? Cringe fact about me is that I would love to wear them lol 😔
Oh sorry I think the button stance is too low. An inch tops maybe? It looks like the fabric in the chest is collapsing a bit at the waist while the hips seem to be laying fine. Don't quote me on that one tho, that's prolly my biggest uncertainty
ok yeah I overcorrected there - when she shortened the jacket I opted to not raise the button stance with it, thinking that susu's would be really high anyway - lesson learned! good thing I probably won't button it much haha
It's entirely possible that the waist would mostly sort itself out with the proper adjustments to the back and upper chest tbh. Kiyoshi who works at Hall Madden is vvv good at this sort of thing but idt he's on this server
Braces are the best way to hold up pants. Wear em if you like em. No cringe about it. People just don't like the trendy/hipster/peakyblinders look of braces without a jacket
Braces are the GOAT to hold up pants like gimp said. They seem super cringe for valid reasons but I think worn more earnestly with actual tailoring is different but it will definitely get polarized reactions from people bc of the peaky blinders associations
Appreciate the encouragement! tbh I am someone who will someday probably wear them in exactly the 'bad' way at some point in my life tho haha. ultimate wonky style icon attached for reference
Their original intent was that one never takes their jacket off when wearing them, thus nobody knows they are worn (or at least, nobody sees them.)
But it's a free country. If braces speak to you then rock em, amirite
If this is cringe, I don't want to be based etc
hobbit gorp core! I think totally valid here
Oh I should note, if you want to wear suspenders, you want the six suspender buttons added. These days front go inside, back are your choice of in or outside. They need to be attached in a sturdy fashion, ie, by someone who knows what suspenders are :P
They're already there 😉
I just don't own any yet. Not sure what a good price on ebay is
About 30-40 new
Get thurston braces, they're fantastic, get them used for $20-50, rather than paying $40 new for some, IMO.
I means thurston
Last i got mine from ss, they made by thurston and charged me 60 or so in 2021
Though until you get to like $80 with thurston you won't get your choice of options, at $40 you take what's available or wait a few months. Luxeswap has done a half dozen at least
Oh I see what you mean. Get them with susu branding, new but on ebay, for $40, and they should be made by thurston?
Yep
I did my wedding and got suits from ss. Was going for drakes but i found out susp from ss made by thurston as well
Fantastic
Thanks guys! I'll have a look