Suit Fit Check
How is the fit? I think the back smooths out when I slouch a bit, not sure if that's fixable at a tailors.
27 Replies
fine for RTW and a business event IMO. Yes ideally you don't have those wrinkles on your sleeves and upper back but realistically that's not a concern for non-menswear folks.
my personal taste would say that jacket is a tad short and the pants should be fuller (wider) -- notice the wrinkles on the pants from catching onto your leg
my personal taste would say that jacket is a tad short and the pants should be fuller (wider) -- notice the wrinkles on the pants from catching onto your leg
He can have the pants hemmed to a single break, might be worthwhile consdering getting both the jacket and pants tapered by the tailor.
The trouser legs look slim to me, as the fabric kinda cling to his thighs
Yes, but the tailor could taper it from the knee down. At the very least, hemming it should clear up the bunching.
Yeah, the bunching instead of clean break tells me the length is wrong (at least for the width.) Would recommend going for more like half break to quarter break; talk to your tailor, they will pin it and make sure it breaks nicely before hemming.
The front looks pretty decent (though in the future would probably prefer a lower button stance and more open quarters but those are preferences.) The side is mostly fine; give the sleeve cuff a bit of a yank down (and same for shirt sleeve, which I assume rode up a bit.) The back isn't as clean as I would like. It looks tight across the very upper back / almost neck, see how it's pulling? I am unsure why the shoulder blades look like they do or if it's fixable, but I also wouldn't worry about it as much. The backs of the sleeves aren't my favorite, maybe a yank down will reset them, maybe it's just how you hold your arms. Pants are visibly fairly slim but that's a personal choice.
It’s fine but I would hem the trousers to break how you want and I think the pants in generally are too skinny but this seems like a suit you already own
Appreciate the feedback! I found the suit jacket for cheap but didn't find the trousers, so I cobbled this together. I'm guessing this means it's passable in dimmer lighting until I can get around buying an actual suit. Pants definitely needs hemming, might have wrinkled because I was pulling it up a bit. Glad to have everyone's opinions, it's hard to be impartial when I just want to tell myself I didn't make a mistake with this jacket purchase (did it before I realized how hard it is to match an orphaned suit jacket)
I honestly did not realize this was a "close enough to matching" suit. So hopefully that means it's passable in dim light. In daylight it's not gonna look right.
It is in fact hard to match an orphaned jacket but since none of us commented on it you can probably pull it off for some evening events. Holiday parties, dim restaurants, etc.
Good learning experience. Think of it as paying your dues. :P
But given the history, I would suggest not spending any money to tailor the jacket. Not worth the long term investment into a jacket you probably won't own for too long. IMO.
that was my hidden question, wouldn't really work if I pointed it out 😆
You can always keep the trousers, hem 'em and they'll be fine.
Yeah, if you told us we woulda shouted you down ;)
It honestly looks so close when it's not daylight that I didn't want to give up this idea. But the jacket definitely looks a tad more blue than the trousers.
Any chance this type of jacket works as an odd coat? It's something like super 150s though so I'm not super sure
Your experiment does make clear that there is a gap between menswear-rules that we often insist on, and "good enough to pass." If the goal is to be good enough then I think you've got it.
That is a fairly difficult jacket to make work with how the US treats men's jackets, but in Europe many people would happily wear it as a "broken suit" or odd jacket. Ultimately menswear is just a bunch of rules made up by people through the convoluted context of some tens of thousands of men with strong opinions about shit over centuries and the social position that other men listened to them, so, certainly neither is right or wrong. I'd consider looking to how men in the better-dressed european countries might wear a broken suit as inspiration. If it was more navy, I'd say slap some silver, or gold/brass buttons on it, tuck in the flaps, and make it a navy blazer. The problem is, "italian" style (at a gross overview) likes the jetted pockets but also open quarters and a lower button stance. This is cut to my eyes more british/british-american, with a higher button stance and closed quarters, where the jetted pocket would usually be more formal, so tucking the flaps in might look wrong especially since it's not actually navy. So where does that leave us? I am trying to think of what I would do if I wanted it to fit US standards of """correct""" menswear. Especially with it being not only smooth worsted but very fine, I am not sure.
For context, I picked it up at a thrift store in the Netherlands, which from experience, is not one of the more better-dressed european countries, not in this region at least.
Oh, let me back up. Do you live in the US? Netherlands?
It's a corneliani jacket, but I'm guessing the previous owner was some old guy because the stance seems very slouched. Living in the Netherlands now.
So for the US I guess my instinct is one of two choices.
1. Leave it alone. Wear it like men might wear it in europe - as an odd jacket - and dare anyone to say anything. Remember, >99% of people in the US will never know that you're not """supposed""" to wear a jacket like this separately. Granted, if you work in a field that's heavily into men's tailoring on a daily basis (law, finance) then people might actually know and not be super impressed. To which my counter-arguments are: 1) it's sprezzatura, so shut up, and 2) don't spend money on altering stuff you probably aren't in love with anyways.
2. Replace the buttons with something with more contrast to casual it up a bit. Black or brown horn, black MOP, silver or brass (metal), or smoke MOP. Then see above re: sprezzatura.
Oh dope in the netherlands this is gonna be way easier
Because, and I truly do not mean to offend, most men in the netherlands, among other countries, wear men's tailoring without following seemingly any """rules""" about it. I don't mean to imply they're ignorant in a bad way, just that they seem to either be largely more ignorant or largely more not giving a shit, or both, about such things.
Netherlands, to some extent germany, to a fair extent Denmark, etc etc. Men there seem to just throw on whatever tailoring they feel like and worry a lot less about fit, cohesiveness, etc, than men in Italy, Britain, France, etc, in my very rough observations. I don't mean to stereotype, but that is my observation
Haha, I understand where you're coming from. I'm also not Dutch, but I do appreciate you treading carefully on not stereotyping
TL;DR just wear it in good health, as they say, and you'll look good, nobody will care about details like that it's an orphaned suit jacket by US standards.
Yeah, I want to be clear that there is no moral failing in not caring about "men's tailoring rules." It's a thing that in some places may see you judged, but even then as a etiquette thing rather than any sort of moral thing. If the culture of the area is that there is no etiquette issue then there is no issue at all, practically speaking, right? You will not embarrass yourself at an interview, on a date, at a wedding, etc, if nobody else finds it in any way "incorrect."
Men's tailoring is 100% just a social construct, there is no truth in it, it's not graviational attraction or group theory.
I'm also not in a place in life or career where I wear suits often. So I'm not too concerned about looking like the poster child of styleforum or something, but it's nice to know if it's "correct"
Or in my case, just enough to get by
Just enough to get by is the name of the game for most people. You'll do fine. In the future, if you need a "right and proper" suit, you'll know better what to look for.
And also I think most of us who buy second-hand stuff have bought an orphaned jacket or two and struggled a bit with it. It happens. :)
Fair point, I just told myself it was 16 euros so what's the harm
For 16 euros that's a solid jacket.
And you can always experiment with stuff that, uh, styleforum gents would say is "wrong." Because who cares?
It has been long enough that even styleforum has looped back around to, at times, mocking the "iGent" thing.
Oh I'm happy I have no idea what you're talking about
iGent = terminally online guy who claims his interpretation of menswear rules is objectively correct and must be followed
Also often a person you constantly see spewing rules but never drop a good fit. :P
yikes
:) Enjoy! Show us when you hem the trousers
Thanks for the help! Appreciate it!