Advice Needed on Jacket!

[69monaro]

I recently acquired this Samuelsohn SC on the Bay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=170117555579

Could a run of the mill tailor supress the waist for me? (Mens Wharehouse etc.)

Or should I take it to Portland? THe jacket is great by the way. Prior to SF and AAAC I would never have thought of wearing this type of jacket. I'm wearing it to work and r/c a compliment at the local coffee shop this morning.

Thanks in advance.

69Monaro.

 

[Edward Appleby]

First off, welcome to the forum.

Any decent tailor should be able to do waist suppression work- an actual tailor that is, not just an alterations place.

That said, considering what you won that jacket for, I wouldn't do it unless it's just a minor adjustment you're contemplating. The results are rarely perfect, and to get any significant change in the shape of the waist you could easily end up spending three times what you paid for the jacket. My advice is to enjoy it as is and hunt for a more nipped waist in your next purchase.

 

[69monaro]

Cheers.

 

[Roger]

That's a lovely jacket. I particularly like the pattern and colors, and Samuelsohn makes a high-quality product--extremely good value for the money.

As the jacket was photographed for the listing, the seller obviously nipped the waist considerably to give it the extreme waist suppression in the picture--far more than a 46" chest/43" waist would produce when worn normally. However, waist suppression is a relatively easy job for any good tailor (and I'd tend to agree with Mr. Appleby on finding a guy who makes MTM suits and jackets to do the alterations you want), and shouldn't require a large outlay of cash. I'd suggest that you try the jacket on and see whether a 46" chest is not a little large--certainly larger than found on most tagged 42Rs. If it is on the large side, I'd have the tailor slim it a little--maybe to 44", and take in the waist proportionally more--perhaps to 39" or 40". Or you could go 45"/41" if the tailor thinks the balance will be thrown out with any more reduction. This all might cost you $40-$50. I guess my take on this is that you did extremely well on the cost of the garment in the first place, and for a total expenditure of $75 you can have a better-fitting and -looking garment with a little tweaking--a really great sports jacket.

 

[j]

I don't see why getting something cheap means you shouldn't spend enough to get it fitted right - to me, assuming the item is high quality, it means you have that much more to spend on getting it right.

Taking the sides in is not that difficult an operation, but you should find a decent tailor to do it, as said above.

 

[69monaro]

Thanks for the replies. I will trek to Portland soon and have the sides taken in. If I can get a good fitting jacket for around $100 then I will be satisfied.

I will post pictures...

 

[lpwb32]

i recently had the waist nipped on a rear vented coat. it was a very boxy cut originally and even though the shoulders were perfect, my tailor said it was pretty tough. we went through 4 fittings until it was just right. i was told that the large and low cut armholes on suits these days makes this alteration increasingly difficult, especially on dual vents. there is almost always going to be a bit of pucker right above where the vents end.

pls excuse the attached diagram -- i did it with a mouse and the proportions are all wrong. on the left is a jacket with a smaller armhole. theres more room to suppress the waist smoothly. on the right is a jacket with longer armhole. to get the same waist suppression requires a more pronunced cut and the sharper angle at the bottom wreaks havoc with how the material hangs at the vents when wearing.

this is what i was told but made sense to me. can anyone verify?