Altering an overcoat

I scored a good deal on a second hand St Andrews 100% cashmere overcoat that I'll need to have altered to fit better. It's amazingly warm and heavy ( too heavy for California weather, even in winter) but needs the sleeves let out a bit. I want to have it shortened considerably, somewhere above the knees, hence the reason for this thread, I'm not certain exactly where to have it end. I'm 6'3" if that matters. The whole thing will be need to be taken in a good deal as well. I can pull a good eight inch space between my chest and the outside of the coat.

The roundness of the shoulders is growing on me, I've never seen that in any other overcoat before.

The other question I had, with all that extra fabric that will be cut off, is it possible for a good tailor to fashion a belt and side belt loops around the waist like a raincoat? I know there wouldn't be enough length of fabric to make it out of one continuous piece, but if the seam is placed in the middle of the back, would that work?

Forgive the crappy baggy pants, I just threw on what was closest to me.

Letting down sleeves in a garment that has been worn is always problematic:
there might be signs of wear or dirt that will show once the sleeves got lengthened.

As for the belt, that will have to pieced significantly: I presume the coat has a vent, so any belt would have four or even five pieces stitched together (usually a belt is constructed from two pieces). I don’t think that would be very attractive.

My suggestion would be to use the cut-off material to made cuffs or gauntlets for the sleeves; that would cover all potential marks of wear.


Although it might not be standard with a raglan-sleeved overcoat, it will look better than the sleeves to short.

Talk to your tailor!

I like the current length of the coat, but I prefer long coats.

The cuff/gauntlet idea sounds good. Yeah I forgot to mention that the center vent is quite large. I dont want to spend $400 on alterations...

Originally Posted by Chips

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The cuff/gauntlet idea sounds good. Yeah I forgot to mention that the center vent is quite large. I dont want to spend $400 on alterations...
Nice coat, by the way.

I don't think this coat will work as a shorter coat. Either wear it long, or get a different coat...

Originally Posted by bengal-stripe

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Letting down sleeves in a garment that has been worn is always problematic:
there might be signs of wear or dirt that will show once the sleeves got lengthened.

But, if the garment in question is tailored longer via the top of the sleeves? I thought this was the recommended solution to lengthen sleeves that have working buttonholes. I'm assuming it would work in this case as well, no?

Originally Posted by imageWIS

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But, if the garment in question is tailored longer via the top of the sleeves? I thought this was the recommended solution to lengthen sleeves that have working buttonholes. I'm assuming it would work in this case as well, no?

no if its worn on the edge its worn and thats it. hopefully it may not be.

nont shorten above the knees. the sleeves i think will be fine with cuffs .

what the hell is a gauntlet?

funk and wagnalls says its a glove worn on the hand.

Sell it and find something that fits.

I think I'll just take it to the knee area. Looking at the photo, I notice that I don't mind the length so much as I do mind the bulk. The whole thing looks amazing, no wear that I can detect, but who knows what would be found when fiddling with the cuffs. I might just leave them. As far as terminology, forgive my ignorance in using another persons terms. I thought I'd heard the term gauntlet before, in regards to some sort of rolled back cuff on a coat. But I'll take a tailors word for it over mine any day.

I have two other overcoats that are way too big on me now, of which I also had shortened. I might fire off some shots of those so I can compare objectively.

I might swap out the buttons for a darker color as well. Not sure. On a coat like this, I'd imagine there's not a problem with buttoning them all? I wish I could have more of a lapel look to this one.

Here are my other two overcoats, both which are too big to wear, but not worth the additional costs to have altered, for comparison.



I prefer the length on this black one the best. I hadn't seen it full length on me till I took this picture. I couldn't use my flash for the black one without floating dust showing up reflecting back into this Sony point and shoot.



This one is not quite as baggy, but I think it's a tad too short.

So that is the length I'll shoot for on the St Andrews.

This is a nice coat, but not worth the hundreds of dollars in alterations IMO.

Not to hijack, but I'd like to append to this thread. Can overcoat sleeves be shortened via the sleeve head in the same manner as a suit or sport coat?

it's going to cost a lot to get all that work done... you sure you don't want to buy a better fitting coat to begin with and make minor alterations to taste? I don't think even after alterations the shape of the coat will be all that flattering

I'll take it in and get an estimate. I much prefer the herringbone pattern over the other two. If I do get it tailored, I will re post pics here.