New member looking for help on Brooks Brothers sizing.

New member here. If it were possible, I'd be walking into a Brooks Brothers store and answering my own questions, but here I am so that's obviously out of the question. Just to set the stage: I get traditional, full-cut 40Ls. Slim-fit anything has just never worked on me. 40L Hickey Freeman Beacon is just about spot on, maybe with a teeny tiny bit of extra wiggle room to go up (like a 41L, or a 40.7 if that makes any sense). 40L Hugo Boss is just a tad too small in the waist, and from what I gather, that's supposed to be a slim-fit youth-oriented brand. 40L Ralph Lauren Blue Label is also too slim. I weigh less than either of these chaps in this thread. Using this guide (which actually appears to be the oft-recommended Ask Andy About Clothes guide) and measuring well-fitting jackets of my own, I find that my needs are a chest measurement no smaller than 22" (ideally a couple fractions or so more) and a waist measurement of around 20 1/2", again, maybe a notch more. The aforementioned 40L HF Beacon fits this category good. My interest in BBs stems from this listing from tweedydon. Nice, friendly, communicative guy. I asked for additional measurements and questions of concern because the measurements just weren't saying 42L to me (not at all to question tweedydon's expertise since he's obviously experienced--it's more an analysis of the strangeness between tagged sizes of different jackets). Any 42L I've ever gotten hold of was always a tent on me, obviously too baggy, yet the measurements there are quite too small. 21 3/4" chest and 19 3/4" waist put it well into the too-small category, yet this jacket's Madion cut is supposed to be BB's fullest cut. Surely I don't need a 43L BBs and a 40L HF (and most anything else)? Yet that's what I gather here. Getting a slimmer fit would only mean I'd even need to go higher (44L BBs--surely preposterous). tweedy says it's unaltered, so slimmed-by-alterations is out the window. The thread I linked to before seems to rather strongly suggest that, given my height and weight, I'd actually be be getting a jacket too large, not one too small. Nevertheless, after talking with tweedy, he advised that I pass. I don't want to disrupt that goodwill by buying it (for now...) anyway only to possibly regret it. Everything taken together in context: If I wanted to buy a Brooks Brothers sport coat online besides tweedy's, what size and fit would I likely need (given that 40L HF Beacon is an established base)? And second, is there any chance in the slightest that tweedy's jacket would fit on me (I'm still eying it from afar)? I could simply email BB and see what they think, but I want to talk to people that own and wear the things, and can perhaps compare them to other jackets (like HF), something BB can't do. Besides, they'd likely want my measurements to determine fit. I could only give them measurements from competing jackets, not reliably measure myself. Perhaps if someone had a 42L HF and 42L BBs Madison they could compare side-by-side, that would also help. Thanks in advance for your time and consideration.

I bought a Madison Fit Sport Coat back in January in my size (42L). The coat fit in the shoulders well, but was very loose around the waste. I prefer slim fit suits/jackets/coats so I returned the coat. Based on my experience with BB in general as well as this experience with the Madison fit I think it would be very comparable to Hickey Freeman Beacon fit. Go for the 40L in the BB Madison fit.

Madison is indeed Brooks' fullest fit jacket. I've bought items in the Madison fit and find that to be true. Madison also has a less structured shoulder in my experience. So if you're looking for a "traditional" fit rather than a slimmer one, Madison is well worth a try.

Two things to bear in mind: Brooks' return policy is very good. Buy online and return in store is one option. And finding a good fit off the rack is a matter of luck. You should expect to have a jacket altered in some way. Brooks has alterations tailors in most (all?) stores or you can use your own alterations person.

Agreed Andy57, BB has a great return policy. In addition, if you have an AmEx card you can get free 2-day shipping, both ways, through Shoprunner.



Andy57 said:

Two things to bear in mind: Brooks' return policy is very good. Buy online and return in store is one option. And finding a good fit off the rack is a matter of luck. You should expect to have a jacket altered in some way. Brooks has alterations tailors in most (all?) stores or you can use your own alterations person.

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I'd feel a little dirty buying a jacket strictly to measure and compare it knowing full well I had no intention of keeping it. I'd either be out the cost of shipping one or two ways, or I'd be taking advantage of their free shipping offer while 'posing' as a customer. I'm not looking to tie up ~$700 on a credit card. And like I said before, if I could visit a BBs store (for example, to perform an in-store return), I'd have done so by now. My focus is primarily on secondary market searches (eBay, the Thrift Exchange, etc.) where sizing information can be limited, and it's best to be informed about what you're getting by knowing fits and measurements in advance.

(Not trying to eat your goat by any means. I appreciate the feedback so far. I'm just reiterating my position: In-store is a no-go, and I can't tie up hundreds on credit on a simple measurement experiment.)

Holyee said:

I'd feel a little dirty buying a jacket strictly to measure and compare it knowing full well I had no intention of keeping it.

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That was not at all what I was suggesting. I had assumed you were interested in buying from Brooks Brothers. My bad.

If you're buying used from someone online, then you're on your own. If you're looking for some to tell you that a certain jacket will fit you, then I doubt anyone will do that. Good luck to you.

No problem, and agreed on both counts. What I was mainly looking for is if someone had both HF Beacon and BB Madion of identical size and could compare differences in fit and measurement in key areas like shoulder, chest, and waist, or otherwise offer a recommendation, and perhaps if I was lucky, have an unaltered example of a 4# L (like a 41 or 43) whose measurements could be taken. Just so I'll be armed with the most information possible before diving into the secondary market.