Styleforum › Forums › Men's Style › Classic Menswear › Ill-fitting suits
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Ill-fitting suits

post #1 of 6
3/5/04 at 9:38pm
Thread Starter 
I'm a big RTW person, but I've come across a problem: I have a very odd (feminine?) body-shape and I can never find a suit that accents my body type well. Jackets are consistenty too wide around my waist, and they are also often too baggy around my shoulders, underarms and wrists. This has been a problem ever since I became interested in dressing up more. I have very small wrists, a very defined waist line and very narrow shoulders. I THOUGHT I wore a 36R, but most of the time that won't fit me correctly. What would be the difference between a 36R and a 36S? Sorry to ask such "newbie" questions, but I AM new to the world of suit-wearing. From what I understand, the "S" means short, and I'm not short, I'm a little over 6-foot. If "S" means small, well that would be good news for me. I am looking into a wool/silk black Hedi Slimane suit, but I don't want to invest in something that doesn't fit as correctly as it could. What kind of services could a tailor do to help me cure this problem? Thank you for reading, and thanks in advance for responses.
Reply
Reply
post #2 of 6
3/5/04 at 9:59pm
Sounds to me like you should try made-to-measure. I have the same problem; even here in Korea, where people are shorter and slimmer on average than Americans are, I still have trouble finding anything that fits me well right off the hook, and even after alterations are done things still have something to be desired. (Although the closest would have to be the wonderful Zegna suit I tried on the other day; a bit long and a bit wide in the waist, but the shoulders, chest and back were perfect. I do believe this was also a floating-canvas suit, which raised my eyebrows because I thought regular Zegna suits were half-canvas.) S does in fact mean short. Do you mean the shoulders of your jackets are too wide? Or do you mean something else? A tailor can help to take in the waist line to a more comfortable size, although the chest area would have to stay the same. A tailor can also taper the sleeves down to a more acceptable size.
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 6
3/6/04 at 1:31am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Do you mean the shoulders of your jackets are too wide? Or do you mean something else? A tailor can help to take in the waist line to a more comfortable size, although the chest area would have to stay the same. A tailor can also taper the sleeves down to a more acceptable size.
Thanks. Yea, basically shoulders are always too wide for me. They tend to make me look very bulky, which is definitely not the look I like to associate with. It looks horribly out of place versus my legs and facial shape. I think I'll talk to some of the workers at Saks next time I go to see what can be done to make it fit more correctly. As for made-to-measure, I would love to do that, but doesn't that require that you can travel? Certain things interested me like the W.W.Chan discussion, and I know travelling to Hong Kong is pretty cheap. Or am I confused about the whole thing?
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 6
3/6/04 at 3:12am
Brian, You definately don't want to go 36S, the overall jacket length and sleeve length would be way too short for someone around 6' tall. Dior Homme sounds like a good choice, if you're willing to spend the money. I'd also suggest trying a Helmut Lang suit, I recall a thread a few weeks ago on the subject of HL suits and I think it was brought up they were slim fitting.
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 6
3/6/04 at 5:04am
Thread Starter 
Yea I'll check out Helmut Lang, that would be significantly cheaper than Dior Homme. Although I don't find Dior Homme to be particularly expensive, I would like to investigate Helmut Lang stuff as well. I don't see a point in buying a black suit as my first suit, and I don't like the look of the grey Dior Homme suits.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 6
3/6/04 at 10:25am
Wow, over 6 foot and with a 30" waist or smaller with narrow shoulders and you seem to be detail oriented. 'Short' does not neccessarily mean short in stature; it relates to the rise of the trouser and the waist line of the body/torso. It does seem however, that extensive tailoring would be needed for an off-the-rack suit. Unless you are at a very good store, it might be difficult. MTM would seem the way to go unless it is just not in your resources. Another suggestion would be to seek out a high quality boy's shop. There are not too many around anymore, but if you look to the Jewish community, you should be able to find where Bar Mitzvah suits are purchased. It could mean a drive for you to LA, but thats closer than Hong Kong. Good luck -
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Classic Menswear
Styleforum › Forums › Men's Style › Classic Menswear › Ill-fitting suits