Body shapes most flattered by drape or structured

[TRINI]

Is this the thread where we argue over whether drape actually means the the jacket is too big?

Because I don't think we've had one of those threads before.

 

[radicaldog]

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

Sigh. Small "d" drape is structure, a technique for adding fullness in the chest and upper back toward the arms. Drape can be hung from big stiff shoulder pads or from minimally augmented shoulders. Drape can be fronted by a stiff canvas or a soft canvas. A draped jacket can be shaped extensively with darts and sidebodies, or left full like a sack. In other words, just like an undraped jacket. Big "D" Drape Cut, or London Cut, or London Lounge exists today from only a handful of sources, all of them AFAIK expensive bespoke tailors. The Italian ones do a highly modified, regional, attenuated but often handsome version. The English ones boil down to A&S and its expats, and some of the Poole and Davies house blocks. Frankly, very, very few will ever have the choice in the first place. You are not going to get A&S. You are not going to Caraceni. It is a dichotomy both false and of no practical consequence for the vast majority of members who wear RTW or the products of tailors would wouldn't know how to put together a good draped jacket if you beat them with curtain rods. So, don't worry about it unless you are unfamiliar with it and are seriously considering being a customer of the few bespoke tailors who can make it.
This is all true, of course. A zoot suit is a drape suit, strictly speaking. But I was referring to big 'D' drape, as I take it that was what the OP meant. And the reason why I discouraged it was precisely because very few tailors can do it well. I tried to micro-manage an otherwise quite capable provincial Italian tailor into doing something like that cut a couple of times, and the results are not terrible, but far from ideal -- and not just because of my body shape. In the end I would always recommend picking a tailor whose house style one likes. Going back to the topic of this thread, I think my point about the suitability of drape, er, Drape for different body types still holds: Rubinacci coats look better on Foo or Iammatt than they do on Whnay. Whnay still looks great (after all LH is a truly great sartoria), but IMO he would look (even) better in a Caraceni suit. NB: I am talking purely about the proportions of the silhouette, not about wider aesthetic values such as relaxedness and so on. So ultimately if money is no object a choice of tailor should depend on how one ranks the more objective/inherently sartorial values (proportions, balance etc.) vs the more extrinsic aesthetic values ('relaxed/sharp look', etc.). In other words, intrinsic sartorial values are the same for all styles, and for any house style they supervene on body types (supervenience=necessary covariation). Extrinsic sartorial values, on the other hand, are constant wrt body types, but vary depending on house style (e.g., crudely, Huntsman maximises sharpness, Rubinacci maximises relaxedness).

 

[A Y]

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

the products of tailors would wouldn't know how to put together a good draped jacket if you beat them with curtain rods.

What if they read one of Sator's scanned books, as found on a clothing forum?

--Andre

 

[jefferyd]

Originally Posted by A Y

What if they read one of Sator's scanned books, as found on a clothing forum?

--Andre

I seem to remember some hack from the RTW industry doing just that. Sort of.

 

[voxsartoria]

Originally Posted by jefferyd

I seem to remember some hack from the RTW industry doing just that. Sort of.
I challenge you to make all of the protagonist's costumes in Kind Hearts and Coronets.. SATOR would need his smelling salts if you succeeded. - B

 

[jefferyd]

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

SATOR would need his smelling salts if you succeeded.

Let him sleep. There's a lot less shouting around here lately.

 

[S. Able]

Imagine a scale ranging from high school freshmen cross country runner to Rick Majerus. In my opinion, gents towards the runner end can wear either style very well. As you progress towards Rick's frame, you eventually hit a point where a lean, structured look might actually look better because the leaner chest can produce a narrower overall look. All of my Drape (big D) jackets make my frame appear wider, especially between my nipples and waist. All of these jackets have nicely suppressed waists. Eventually a body frame hits a point where no amount of tailoring magic can make one look noticeably thinner. At this point, I think a Drape jacket looks much better than a structured jacket. The later of which can produce caricature-like shoulders. See Mark Schlereth. A Draped coat looks much more organic on these fellas in my opinion.

My two cents.

 

[PTWilliams]

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[Nicola]

Originally Posted by Sanguis Mortuum

Every suit looks better on a slim, athletic physique with wide shoulders and a narrow waist.

That's which body type flatters the suit most.

But the OP asks which body type is flattered by the suit best. In other words what makes each body type look best.

 

[bringusingoodale]

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

...
Frankly, very, very few will ever have the choice in the first place. You are not going to get A&S. You are not going to Caraceni. It is a dichotomy both false and of no practical consequence for the vast majority of members who wear RTW or the products of tailors would wouldn't know how to put together a good draped jacket if you beat them with curtain rods.

So, don't worry about it unless you are unfamiliar with it and are seriously considering being a customer of the few bespoke tailors who can make it.


- B

That's all I need to hear to exit this thread.

Good day sirs.

 

[Sanguis Mortuum]

Originally Posted by Nicola

That's which body type flatters the suit most.

But the OP asks which body type is flattered by the suit best. In other words what makes each body type look best.

I know, I was replying to 'robinsongreen68' not the OP.

To be honest, both structure and drape aim to achieve the same thing, which is the impression of a larger chest, they just go about it in different ways. As such, the choice is probably more just about personal taste than the body-type of the wearer.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

My balls have tons of drape and they're RTW.

 

[radicaldog]

Originally Posted by S. Able

Imagine a scale ranging from high school freshmen cross country runner to Rick Majerus. In my opinion, gents towards the runner end can wear either style very well. As you progress towards Rick's frame, you eventually hit a point where a lean, structured look might actually look better because the leaner chest can produce a narrower overall look. All of my Drape (big D) jackets make my frame appear wider, especially between my nipples and waist. All of these jackets have nicely suppressed waists. Eventually a body frame hits a point where no amount of tailoring magic can make one look noticeably thinner. At this point, I think a Drape jacket looks much better than a structured jacket. The later of which can produce caricature-like shoulders. See Mark Schlereth. A Draped coat looks much more organic on these fellas in my opinion.

My two cents.

That's exactly what I meant.

 

[Lear]

Thanks for all the great replies. Some made me laugh, and some made me question whether they'll actually let me through the door. Anyway, lots of stuff I'd have never known otherwise. Thanks again.

Enough! Have booked for next week. I simply need a suit that fits very well and looks fantastic. I don't expect this first attempt to be perfection. I'll just leave it to the bloke with the tape measure and take it from there.

Hope I resist the temptation to stand in an artificially erect manner, sucking in stomach and thrusting out chest

. Whatever, it'll be a totally new experience for me.

In the style of bringusingoodale, I shall now be exiting this thread

Good day to you all

Lear

 

[George]

Either approaches are valid if well executed. All that is required is that the style is adapted to the clients build.