Fit Critique - Page 2

Nonsense! Your goal in life isn't to impress others, it's to remember those you love. Wear the shit out of that coat. Unless your circle of friends is so focused on clothing that they'll never let you live it down, I say wear it. Take it to a tailor and say "Hello sir, can you recommend some tweaks that might make this coat fit better?" and take any suggestion that doesn't cost a fortune. Don't let them take it apart, just have them pull in the sides a bit, and (as I said), tweak it.

It might not fit you perfectly, but nobody cares.

EDIT:
I forgot to mention that I think it's a sweet jacket. I want one.

plus one, een, un, eins, uno...

You are right from a certain point of view - that being JohnnytheBoy* can wear what he likes. He can even choose to walk around in his bare ass if he wants. But he did have his reservations, and in this case most here agree with these reservations. Anyway the jacket does not flatter his appearance. I say a young buck like him should work hard to give himself a decent and age appropriate appearance. On top of that, he will be $100 poorer after getting a tailor to work his magic. If it dont work, chuck it.

---

* on a side note, Johnnytheboy is great user name, reminds me of Mad Max. I wish I could change my name to BubbaZanetti now.

It is a fine old sports coat. The nasty comments are by the young who haven't see much in their short years and have much to learn. The style of the sleeves is old but very nice. Haven't seen them in about 50 years and it is good to see them again. If this is a newer coat then the sleeve design has purpose other than style, which means a lot of people who write here are clueless and will give you the wrong advice. Modern isn't always best and old styles come back again, sometimes because somebody wears it and starts the trend. The style of pockets isn't seen much any more, probably because most of the skilled who could make them are dead- never look down on skill. I would ask the old man about the coat and why people bought them, he is closer to those purposes than the young here who are shocked because of their lack of knowledge.

As far as fit goes there are a few changes that would be good. A lower shoulder that is fitted would solve a number of problems such as the buttoning and the back vent would be helped a great deal. The side seams can be adjusted to fit you better. Some old tailors could shape the coat with an iron so it fits better, not to mention look better, another skill that is being lost. It is a sports coat which you could say from another perspective it is a "kick about coat". That means you can wear it to football games, soccer games, golfing, fishing, hunting and after hours of snow skiing. If it were a blazer the weave would be tighter for cutting the wind, whereas, sports coats are more of a land lubbers coat. Ask the old man if he played golf wearing that coat. I doubt many new sports coats are cut for golfing. The coat has charm and the young have something new to learn. A new style today is a shorter coat, which this one is. The style of shorter coats comes and goes and the last may have been in the 70s before that it was probably 150 years ago.

^^^ You my friend are admiring the jacket, not the way it looks on this chap. I agree it is a nice enough vintage jacket, but I dont think it is well suited to JohnnyTheBoy. My beef is not the aesthetics of the jacket - the jacket looks messed up to some here because it simply does not fit the person wearing it. On another person, it may look fine.
Edited by Klobber - 1/10/12 at 11:51pm

Not only that, the buttons are on the left side. Is it a women's jacket?

it will most likely appeal to an elderly gentleman.

Oops, he was not holding a camera so...

Agreed. The narrow shoulders and chest and wide hips make him look pear-shaped. Then again, maybe he just is pear-shaped

A little nip and tuck might help modernize the jacket.
The position of the buttons, well, that's an entirely different story.

nip and tuck around the waist and sleeves.

Perhaps. Though I wouldn't have said that his appearance isn't appropriate. Everything in balance, aye?

Came here to say that... The old gent is a huge troll. his first lesson to you and you failed. He gave you a women's jacket and wanted to see if you'd realize it was. Then you completely failed and now he's having a laugh.

I say hold on to the jacket. I remember myself when I was twenty, an eyeblink and a decade later and I'm 40lbs heavier (I hope you fare better with age). You may find you will grow into it, both physically and sartorially. I don't think its as terribile as the other posts seem to be painting it.

The pictures are not clear, but before taking any drastic advice, try posting again with higher res pics after a good pressing. We need a better sense of the fabric, is it the typically stiff scratchy tough Harris Tweed, or is it on the softer, stretched out side? Wrinkles aside, Its a bit roomy at the chest and wide at the shoulders, but your are not quite swimming it it. A light sweater underneath may help, buttoning the top button may also clean up the top.. You look like you could pull off a 3 button, but may want to see how nicely the lapels will roll to 2.5 (the lower lapel edge doesn't look too flat, but the defined crease underneath the top button is not encouraging on that front). Ironing and shaping will reveal what those lapels are capable of (make sure whomever does this for you is competent). The sleeves seem sort of wide in profile, but are not objectionably large when viewed from the front, in fact the upper arm is free from many of the creasing/twisting that you read people complaining about.

The bottom "bell-shape" (pear shape) is something you can ask a tailor to fix right now. The lower perspective of the 1st picture makes it look worse, but it is too wide, even if you like open quarters. I've had this done on many jackets, it hasn't been a problem for my tailor.

Back balance is a little long, the original owner's posture probably wasn't as erect as yours. If you naturally stand this straight and your shoulders back, I'm not sure if anything can be done. But if your shoulders and head fall a bit forward during normal life, it will look better.

Hmmm, seems like my underlying advice is gain weight and have worse posture.

the sleeves could use a little more definition