38L jackets/suits - the latest thread

[Sebastian_Flyte]

I'm 6'2'', 150 pounds, tall and thin with long arms. I see there's an older thread or two on the dilemma of finding 38L jackets/suits (for instance here and here), but thought I'd share the results of my long quest for this unusual size and hope anyone else has some pointers.

Here we go!

1) H&M - the most consistent place I've found quality, affordable 38Ls. The thing is, they only seem to get stocked at stores in big cities-- New York, D.C., etc. The DC Chinatown store has them at all times while my local Pittsburgh H&M hasn't had a 38L ever. I suppose they stock them where they sell. About $250.

2) Men's Wearhouse - I've actually never shopped here but I see on other threads that they stock 38Ls.

3) Burberry semi-MTM - I had a suit made through a Burberry trunk show at Saks Fifth Ave. This process involves taking all your measurements and a suit is assembled within a few weeks. BUT, they are still constrained by the sizes of the pieces, which resulted in (I forget exactly which) 39 or 40 jacket pieces being altered to my size. The end result was a decent-looking suit although a little large in the pant legs and certain jacket proportions. About $800-$900.

4) Linus - A German suit-maker who opened a boutique in Soho, New York City a few years back. This was like 38L heaven-- TONS of very high quality suits in the size and even a great selection of overcoats to match. Unfortunately the Soho boutique closed this year but I believe they have locations in various German cities. Speaking of which, I'm told that many German suit stores commonly carry 38L (whatever the Euro size is).

5) Ebay - Ebay lists a lot of suits that claim to be 38L that, on closed inspection of the measurements, are often actually 40R or some other size. Buyer beware, but there must be hidden gems on there. The 38L was a common size in the 1980s and before, when Americans as a populace were slimmer and more men needed suits, so I occasionally see true 38L vintage suits.

6) Brands whose 38R can pass - I have a Hugo Boss 38R that's pretty damn close to 38L (maybe cause it's a German brand?). I've seen a number of Italian brands mentioned on this forum that similarly fall in this category. My general sense is that it's never quite perfect, though. Demand the actual 38L

7) MTM - obviously, this works, but affordability can vary.

That's all I know. Any comments or additional tips?

 

[Gravitas]

I was going to go TaT as I am in a similar situation. I was just going to look for 38R's with longer sleeves to try on.

 

[unpainted huffheinz]

There are Polo 38 Longs which are pretty rare, but I see them at discounters like Marshall's more often than one of Ralph's stores. Also, a 40 Long Black Label may work for you if you have broad shoulders.

Some Euro 50L might work for you if the cut is really trim.

 

[Hard2Fit]

Paul Stuart makes a 39 Tall (Long) that may be worth a try.
Stick to the (slimmer) 'Paul' model.

 

[Sebastian_Flyte]

Kenneth Cole sells 38Ls in the US-- found them at Men's Wearhouse and Overstock.com. At least one is part of their "The Slim Collection." These are relatively high quality and look quite nice. Sticker price is ~$500 and I have found them recently for around $200-$250 on sale.

 

[Sebastian_Flyte]

excuse the double post, but I also figured out at that suits sized German 94 are basically 38Ls-- occasionally a Hugo Boss (which is German) 94 pops up on Ebay. A number of German web sites sell 94 suits but of these, only Amazon.de ships to the US (that I am aware of), and their selection is not so hot. Soliver.com has some great ones but, upon inquiry, they do not ship outside of Germany & Austria.

I'm unsure if this size convention (94) is used in other European countries besides Germany.

 

[Sebastian_Flyte]

seems like i'm the only 38L on here, but will keep posting my findings in case any other poor soul googles "38L" in desperate hope and finds this thread

Marc Ecko Cut & Sew blazers-- sold at Macy's and wherever-- in size SMALL are pretty damn close to 38L. They have uncommonly long sleeves and jacket length considering the chest size.

 

[Alamei]

Sebastian,
I, too, have the unfortunate curse of needing the non-existent 38L size, and I've never had any luck finding OTR suits or jackets that came even close to fitting properly. Out of curiosity, do you know what the style of the 38R Boss suit you got was? I've looked at a few before, but none of them seemed to work very well.

 

[FIHTies]

I have mentioned before...I have two 36XL Suits which might work for someone. I can provide measurements. 350 a piece. 600 for the two.

 

[Alamei]

Jonathan,
You've piqued my curiosity; what are the specs on those 36XLs, and do you have any pictures?

 

[kaczmar2]

Originally Posted by Sebastian_Flyte

I'm 6'2'', 150 pounds, tall and thin with long arms.

What is your chest measurement, and do you have broad shoulders? I have a 39" chest, 6'2" 160lbs. but broad shoulders and find that I can fit into 40/42, but have never trieda 38, just assuming it would be too tight in the shoulders.

So you like a 38 because of your chest size or because you like a closer fitting garment in the chest?

38Ls are hard to find as you mentioned. I find that it's even sometimes hard to find 40Ls - 42Ls are much more common for my experience.

 

[cthip]

Originally Posted by Sebastian_Flyte

6) Brands whose 38R can pass - I have a Hugo Boss 38R that's pretty damn close to 38L (maybe cause it's a German brand?)
i have a similar problem with fit and also recently bought a hugo boss before discovering this forum (sorry don't remember which model specifically, navy 2-button from macys on sale for under $500) thinking it looked pretty decent on me in store. got home and compared it to all my other suits only to find that it's a full inch bigger in the chest than any other 38R that i currently own. big problem for me since my actual chest measurement is around 37" i ended up returning the hugo boss and ordering a 38R Marco Valentino from jeff/the wizard of aahs and it's currently at the tailor--will post up results later. length of the jacket is good but the sleeves needed to be let out about 3/4" and a pretty good amount of waist suppression. for us tall skinny guys, these suits aren't nearly as slim as other posts would make them out to be, but they are pretty nice (got my first compliment ever from my tailor when i dropped it off). FWIW the suit that has fit me best OTR has hands-down been a ben sherman. they're usually dismissed as a fashion brand here--and possibly for good reason--fused rather than canvassed and the materials are nothing to write home about, but i got it cheap at nordstrom rack and the 38R fits like you wouldn't believe (needing only the sleeves to be let out a bit). yes it's made cheaply, and yes it's already starting to show a little wear-and-tear, but i'd say that's mostly because i wear it so often (close to once a week for the past 8-9 months). so i'm not optimistic about quality/longevity but if you need something to fit with minimal alteration i'd look into ben sherman.

 

[Sebastian_Flyte]

Originally Posted by Alamei

Sebastian, I, too, have the unfortunate curse of needing the non-existent 38L size, and I've never had any luck finding OTR suits or jackets that came even close to fitting properly. Out of curiosity, do you know what the style of the 38R Boss suit you got was? I've looked at a few before, but none of them seemed to work very well.
the 38R Boss i have is at the tailor-- will let you know the model when it comes back--

 

[Sebastian_Flyte]

Originally Posted by kaczmar2

What is your chest measurement, and do you have broad shoulders? I have a 39" chest, 6'2" 160lbs. but broad shoulders and find that I can fit into 40/42, but have never trieda 38, just assuming it would be too tight in the shoulders. So you like a 38 because of your chest size or because you like a closer fitting garment in the chest? 38Ls are hard to find as you mentioned. I find that it's even sometimes hard to find 40Ls - 42Ls are much more common for my experience.
My chest is 37-38. What's the preferred way to measure shoulders? They are relatively broad. I like the 38 because of the chest size, yeah, but also jacket length (40s look too long), arm height, and basically all other measurements

 

[Sebastian_Flyte]

Ok, so my most recent discovery in the 38L dilemma is that it is a commonly sold size in the UK and Europe. So, any web site that ships to the USA, is a great place to find 38L suits. Seethis thread I started on UK sites that ship to the US. It seems that really it's a marketing thing: not enough 38Ls get sold in the US, so even brands that sell the 38L in Europe don't do so in the USA.