Crittendon - How does it fit - Page 2

Hard to wrap my head around seeing Matt in something other than his typical style. I don't see the coat so much as Matt.

Are the sleeves as full as they look? How about the armholes?

Despite the discount price, I'd find myself hesitant to pay so much for a suit made in China.

It looks pretty good. How does it feel when you move arond?

The breast pocket looks low to me. I'm not sure I caught how high the armholes are in the other thread.

--Andre

+1. We need some styleless person to model this thing.

--Andre

Very nice, Matt; Crittenden has done themselves proud.

One thing, though: are you still going to buy that extraordinary bespoke Rubinacci tailored clothing, iammatt?

I dearly and sincerely hope so as Rubinacci's extraordinary bespoke tailored clothing still looks best on you, IMO.

Appreciate you being the guinea pig matt - thanks for the review and photos. It sounds like critt may well hit an 'objective' quality/retail price sweet spot. As the comments by Doc and others suggest, even in a generally quality-focused community, that is not identical to a sweet spot in the market. Generally, suits of a level where hand work is even an issue (usually 1500+ retail, often much more) are firmly luxury goods. On balance, I have a feeling Critt's lower retail price may be more of a commercial hamper than advantage in this market. My own totally subjective reaction to the cut is that the lapels and quarters look great, whereas the arms and armholes look like they could be better. But maybe I'm just comparing to what iammatt usually posts.

Overall, I think it looks to be cut a size too large or on the larger side. What I mean is, the sleeves seems to be too full and the armholes seem to start quite low. Also, the skirt seem to be flaring a bit too much in the unpinned version. Naturally RTW are made to fit a wide range of body types, but I'd rather see different models for different body types than an generic model to fit all.. Basically, I don't like it that much on you, but would probably consider, especially since you seem to be impressed with the construction and finish, it to be a better fitting coat on one with a bigger build.

Looks good.

Matt, thanks a lot for doing this and taking the time to post it.

I think it looks OK. But the sleeves look huge to me--full, or large diameter, not just a bit long. Larger than they need to be, and it leaves the wholel thing feeling just a trifle off. Not horribly so and not worse than most of the RTW stuff priced at or below this level. But not quite right either.

The mania for high armholes and trim sleeves is fashion. It's a feature of this decade. Fullness of the sleeves used to rank up there will roll of the lapel when men where taught how to distinguish the quality of a suit. There are good reasons to want fullness in the sleeve, so that will probably come back before too long. Unless these people are going for a chunk of the Polo market, and I don't think they are, then I doubt the armholes are a problem here--except for the individual buyer, who may want such things.

I'm not sure I agree with this statement. A high armhole, perhaps counter-intuitively, allows for more arm movement. Thus, I don't see it as mere "fashion". For example if you were to raise your arm above your head the high-arm-hole-sleeve would be more likely to stay in place or closer relative to your wrist, whereas a lower-arm-hole-sleeve would ride up your arm. This is just to illustrate the point not to suggest that you buy a suit because of the way it looks while hailing a cab.

I also think a high arm hole is a pretty good indicator about the manufacturer or tailor's dedication to fit; do they want a suit that fits a wider range of body types hoping for more sales, or are they willing to sacrifice that for the possibility that the suit will look that much better on a smaller population of consumers.

For Matt's jacket I agree with many of the above comments that the sleeves seem too full and too low. It looks better pinned, and it seems surprising how little waist suppression there is unpinned.

It may be a great value at present, but if I were to offer a suggestion to the makers it would be to trim things up a bit. The people/consumers who will appreciate whatever handwork and fabric will also appreciate a more tailored fit.

If so, why do my 90 - 120 year old frock coats and morning coats have high arm holes? Ditto for quality RTW from the 1950s. Ditto for my modern bespoke coats.

High armholes are a feature of most suits made in the first half of the last century. It allows greater movement and from an aesthetic perspective it permits a longer line along the sides of the coat up to the armpits.

This definitely helps to make you look taller.

OK, ok, not the high armhole then, for all I know; but for sure there have been times when full sleeves were regarded as luxurious, stylish, fashionable, etc., and a hallmark of any luxury suit. We can have another thread on the history of arms and sleeves some other day. All I want to do is suggest that there's nothing wrong with the sleeves on this fine evening suit that Matt is modeling.