RTW Suit Advice
I plan to buy a suit soon, and want to figure out if a RTW suit can work for me. In the first 3 of the attached photos is a very slim old Men's Wearhouse suit I've worn for years. In the next 3 photos are a Spier and MacKay 38S in their slim cut, and then a Spier and MacKay 38S in their contemporary. I won't buy either of these suits, though.
I'm specifically looking for advice on whether these 38S jackets look to fit in the shoulders, and if the lengths seem okay. If those measurements are good enough I figure a Spier & Mackay can work, though I might also check out SuitSupply before a purchase.
28 Replies
How tall are you if you don't mind me asking?
Hard to tell. Take pics without holding your phone. You can set you phone in a mug and use a self-timer to take pics
I think a 38R from Spier (contemporary, not slim) is the move
but beans is right that it's hard to judge these things when you're holding your phone cause it changes how the suit looks at your shoulder
The jackets and sleeves seem a bit short yeah
Thanks for the comments. I'm 5'7. Here are some more pictures, hopefully more useful
The slim fit
The contemporary fit
Fit in the shoulders and waist look great especially the slim fit version! I agree with the others that 38S is too short, but I think a 38R slim would fit pretty much perfectly right off the rack
Upper back is kinda jacked up but a tailor should be able to fix that. There’s something weird going on on your right side in the contemporary fit but that might just be the jacket needing to be pulled down to hang right
I’d try the R size. The skirt it also a little weird
It’s close for sure. You said you’re returning these? What is your main goal?
That's good feedback. I reazlied these aren't quite the fabrics I wanted. The light suit is lighter than I'm realistically going to sear and the dark suit is made from a flannel which is a little hotter than ideas
A few quick questions: 1.) if the back is kinda wrinkled up (as with these), what can a tailor do there? Is there a certain operation I would ask for? 2.) As a short dude I'm surprised these look a little short---can only link me to some images of dudes wearing jackets at great lengths
1) yeah the tailor should be able to take in the seam at the center of the back to clean it up. If you have a good tailor you shouldn’t really have to ask for it specifically but always nice to ask exactly what they plan to do to fix it imo if just to learn
This edit is jank asf but it works.
You want the jacket to split the difference between your collar and the floor. In red I’ve marked the top, bottom, and where the jacket ends. The green line is about where the jacket should be.
It’s not short by much but at 5’7” with your proportions I think an R will work better. Plus the sleeves also seem short to me
Here’s a pic of a MTM suit I got from Hall Madden for my wedding. Notice how the jacket bisects my body
I like sport coats a touch shorter but for a suit you want the jacket longer to fit this rule almost always
Much appreciated, the ruler edit is clear
One last question: what kind of person is supposed to be wearing slim suits? I'm a skinny guy but I get the sense that around here there's a skepticism about them
Slim can work if you’re trying to achieve a specific look like a rocker vibe or similar. For classic tailoring I personally don’t think it has a place. I’m 5’8” and ~160lbs and I’m not wearing slim tailoring. V middle of the road (including Spier size 38 lol)
Spier’s slim cut is very trim, im not entirely sure who it would be for but there are billions of bodies so I’m sure it fits someone
Even in this pic I want a fuller cut on the trousers
Idt Spier separates trousers in their suits but I’d also recommend sizing up in their trousers and having the waist taken in to get a decent cut
I hear suit supply tends to push people toward slim cuts, so I'll bear that in mind when I stop in there next week
I think that’s less true now. Most of their pants still have p aggressive taper which I dislike generally
Agree with others that you should try the R cut, this looks a little short. I think the fit is basically okay on both for the jacket, but Spier's slim trousers are pretty slim, so I think the contemporary is the overall better choice.
I hope this isn't too many questions, but I wanted to ask if this image from the SuitSupply site accords with the length advice I'm getting here
maybe a more useful pic
just trying to get an idea for if the SS folks have a different sense for the right proportions, or if this looks like jacket that bisects the body
This looks a bit short to me as well and the pants are very trim.
Got it. Glad I asked, because I suspect that if I walked into a suit supply last week, they would have sold me a short jacket and I wouldn't have thought twice about it
You want it to fully cover your seat at least
What fabric did you try for the light spier suit? Just their base level merino?
Or is it lighter than that?
light suit was a wool/linen mix
What climate are you in? Is there any weight you're looking for in particular?
And what's your purpose for the suit?