suit jacket alteration advice

[eltel]

I need some advice. I had a suit made (M2M) in India a few months ago. When I went back to pick it up, the jacket was the only problem. I was given some baloney about them being unable to alter the jacket because my shoulders on my body were out of sync (they aren't). They said when I wear it I should position it so it looks like it fits well. I was leaving soon after so I just took the suit hoping I could have it altered elsewhere. The problem: one side of the jacket hangs lower slightly. When unfastened, the button hole is about one inch lower than the button. The lapels are also out of sync. One is lower than the other by the same amount. Thus, it shows one side is lower at the bottom of the jacket too. On the back of the suit the bottom is uniform.. Here is a (poor, but you get the idea) photo of the buttons: What I would like to know is, is this an easy job for a tailor to fix? What are the procedures? Will it be expensive? Also behind the collar there are a few small lumps - it's not tight fitting. And behind the sleeves at the back there is a small lump on both sides. Should that be tight? The size of the jacket and length are ok. The sleeves also need shortening. Thanks for your help.

 

[pabloj]

Why putting good money after bad?
I'd take it as a lesson learned

 

[John Ellis]

The thrift buddy. I suspect to solve a problem of this size, assuming it can be solved, is going to involve a complete rework of the jacket which is going to cost several hundred dollars at a reputable tailor. It's throwing good money after bad imho. I've never bought a suit overseas for just this reason. Basically if it's a screw up there is no redress.

 

[academe]

I would just chalk it up to experience and move on. It will be a significant cost to have the problem corrected; unless you have a strong emotional attachment to the jacket it really isn't worth it.

 

[eltel]

Thanks for the respone.

I'm actually going to be in Thailand next month, so I think I'll take it and see what a Tailor can do with it.

The cost won't be that much so I won't have much to lose.

 

[a tailor]

Originally Posted by eltel

I need some advice.

I had a suit made (M2M) in India a few months ago.
When I went back to pick it up, the jacket was the only problem.
I was given some baloney about them being unable to alter the jacket because my shoulders on my body were out of sync (they aren't).
They said when I wear it I should position it so it looks like it fits well.

I was leaving soon after so I just took the suit hoping I could have it altered elsewhere.

The problem: one side of the jacket hangs lower slightly.
When unfastened, the button hole is about one inch lower than the button.
The lapels are also out of sync. One is lower than the other by the same amount.

Thus, it shows one side is lower at the bottom of the jacket too.
On the back of the suit the bottom is uniform..

Here is a (poor, but you get the idea) photo of the buttons:



What I would like to know is, is this an easy job for a tailor to fix? What are the procedures?
Will it be expensive?

Also behind the collar there are a few small lumps - it's not tight fitting.
And behind the sleeves at the back there is a small lump on both sides.
Should that be tight?

The size of the jacket and length are ok.
The sleeves also need shortening.

Thanks for your help.

in the picture it looks like you have a left low shoulder. that is the usual reason for the button to drop down on one side.
if that is a horizontal roll of cloth below the collar, thats a standard alteration.
if behind the sleeves there is a little fullness on the body thats so that you can reach fore ward freely.

 

[eltel]

Originally Posted by a tailor

in the picture it looks like you have a left low shoulder. that is the usual reason for the button to drop down on one side.
if that is a horizontal roll of cloth below the collar, thats a standard alteration.
if behind the sleeves there is a little fullness on the body thats so that you can reach fore ward freely.

Thanks for the response.

Can the low shoulder be easily altered?

 

[oldog/oldtrix]

Originally Posted by eltel

Can the low shoulder be easily altered?

It's major surgery requiring painful realignment of the spine using implanted stainless steel rods and screws and, perhaps, breaking and resetting the clavicle on one side or the other to achieve the same shoulder slope on each side. Also, it seems that you travel extensively, so you should consider the additional time and inconvenience getting through security that will be occasioned by the metal inside your body after the operation. I think it would be less trouble and expense just to add shoulder padding to the coat on the low side.

 

[waterpig]

Originally Posted by oldog/oldtrix

It's major surgery requiring painful realignment of the spine using implanted stainless steel rods and screws and, perhaps, breaking and resetting the clavicle on one side or the other to achieve the same shoulder slope on each side. Also, it seems that you travel extensively, so you should consider the additional time and inconvenience getting through security that will be occasioned by the metal inside your body after the operation. I think it would be less trouble and expense just to add shoulder padding to the coat on the low side.

Nicely played

 

[a tailor]

old dog is right. shoulder pads would be the cheapest. but it might bring collar troubles. talk it over with your tailor.
turning the offending one into a low shoulder, very expensive.

 

[eltel]

Thanks for the responses and sarcastic ones too.

I have some new photos.

I was unaware of the low shoulder and thought it was purely the cut of the suit as opposed to the person's body.

Any thoughts overall?

Click on the photo to get a bigger image:











Cheers

 

[penguin vic]

Doesn't look like a low shoulder to me - just a badly made suit. I'd chalk it up as a learning experience and move on.

 

[Jumbie]

Originally Posted by eltel

Holy kyphosis Batman!!

I hope that's not bunching...

 

[oldog/oldtrix]

Originally Posted by eltel

Thanks for the responses and sarcastic ones too.

I have some new photos.

I was unaware of the low shoulder and thought it was purely the cut of the suit as opposed to the person's body.

Any thoughts overall?

I'm known and widely disliked for my sense of "humor." I try to control it, but it sometimes overwhelms me, and all I can do is apologize. Trying to be a bit serious, however, I'd like to comment not so much on the fit question asked here, as on diagnosing fit issues from static photographs generally.

In an earlier (like more than 40 years earlier) life as a retail men's clothing salesman, I was well trained by an excellent alterations tailor in fitting garments, and I fit umpteen hundreds of them over a period of years, some successfully. I know from that experience that it is next to impossible to assess fit without seeing the garment on the wearer in three dimensions and in motion as well as at rest. Even if a person can assume his "natural" stance in front of a fitter/mirror/camera, and that takes practice, only models and mannequins stand stock still for the purpose of showing off their clothing, and in those cases fit can be made to appear perfect by the strategic placement of pins and tape. Conversely, the oft-repeated story of Fred Astaire dancing in his bespoke clothes during the fitting process may or may not be true, but the idea is fundamental.

A good fitter will ask a customer to assume a comfortable stance, and may even manipulate the customer into a relaxed posture (erase those filthy thoughts from your minds), and then assess the subject garment's balance, shaping, drape/smoothness, and all other salient points of fit, tugging and adjusting, buttoning and unbuttoning the garment as appropriate. But even having done all that and being satisfied that the garment apparently fits, the fitter will ask the customer to walk around, stoop, bend, sit, jog in place or around the block (well maybe not that) to observe how the garment relates to the customer in motion and how it settles when the customer comes to rest back in his "natural" stance. Only then will the fitter be satisfied that the garment fits or be able to mark those parts of the garment that need adjustment.

If you show me a photograph of a man whose suit coat hem extends below his finger tips while he is standing with his arms hanging at his sides, I can fairly certainly conclude that the coat is too long. As the fit questions get much finer than that, I would hesitate to offer an opinion based on photographs, and I would tell you that the opinion is worth exactly what you are paying to read this discourse. So, using the photos above for example, all I can tell you about the reason for the coat's seeming misalignment and side-to-side (and front-to-back) lack of balance is that it is definitely caused solely by the way the wearer is standing, or entirely by the poor cutting and sewing of every piece that went to make up the coat, or by something or other somewhere in between. Sine die.

 

[a tailor]

Originally Posted by eltel

Thanks for the responses and sarcastic ones too.

I have some new photos.

I was unaware of the low shoulder and thought it was purely the cut of the suit as opposed to the person's body.

Any thoughts overall?

Click on the photo to get a bigger image:











Cheers

the new pictures tell a different story. both front and back views show a right low shoulder instead of the left. either you are not standing normally or the jacket is a complete mess.
sleeves should be shorter.