Can this suit be altered to fit me?

[mahlerization]

Hi all,

I'm new to menswear and I'm trying to buy my first suit. I've been doing a lot of reading online, and recently bought a Spier & Mackay Navy Heather Brushed suit (size 36S contemporary, 36S slim sold out). The suit is definitely too big for me OTR, but I was wondering if it is alterable to make a good fit or should I just return this?

Issues I (as a n00b) have identified, with pics to follow:
- Jacket sleeves and trousers need to be hemmed, which should be easy
- Lots of excess fabric on the back, including maybe a tiny tiny bit of collar roll?
- Sleeve pitch is higher than my natural pose, so the rear part of the jacket sleeves bunch up
- Honestly the jacket sleeves feel a bit loose to me in general, but I don't know if it's just me not being used to a more relaxed fit?
- Trouser's seat has a lot of excess fabric. Waist definitely needs taking in.

The silhoutte I want to go for is slimming (since I'm a thin/lean guy) but slightly relaxed, so that the fabric drapes well.

Would really appreciate you guys' expert comments!

Front:


Back, natural arm pitch:


Back, with me following the higher arm pitch that the jacket has:


Side, my natural arm pitch:


Side, following the jacket's high pitch:


Shoulder:


Collar, front:

Collar, back:

Collar, side:


Trousers, front: (Excuse my ill-fitting shirt, that's the next thing to buy)


Trousers, back:

Trousers, side:

 

[Testudo_Aubreii]

Welcome to SF! You may be a 35S. This doesn't look bad at all, actually. You could try 36 Slim in another model. Takes an inch off the chest and inch and a half off the waist. Won't change the shoulder measure, though, which might be a little too wide for you. And you might find the Slim doesn't cover enough of the chest. Only way to know is to try.

Yes, sleeves are pitched too far forward for your arms, which hang almost straight down (unusual). A good alterations tailor should be able to rotate them. I suspect that you'll have this problem with other S&M models. Don't see anything wrong with the width of those sleeves: if you want comfort and movement, don't go for narrow sleeves. The best recipe for arm comfort and movement is a well-fitting, high armhole into which the tailor works a fuller sleevehead. Look for photos of sleeveheads by Zizolfi or Anderson and Sheppard. (Roped sleeveheads also help with this.)

A little hard to tell about the sleeves, though, because you look more stooped in the second sleeve pitch photo. That could be throwing the jacket forward and down toward the top and back and up toward the skirts. See "Balance Explained."

Trouser back rise could use a little fix: lots of posts on the Spier thread about how to do it. Otherwise, should look very good once hemmed.

Overall, this is really not bad. Especially for RTW. Besides the sleeve pitch, just a touch big in a few spots.

 

[Testudo_Aubreii]

P. S. Try asking for alterations opinions on the Tailor's Thread in the CM Forum.

 

[mahlerization]

Many thanks for your comments! Could I ask you a couple of followup questions?

1. What are the indications that the shoulder is a bit wide for me? When I was wearing it, I thought it fit well on the shoulders. What should I look for in the future? Relatedly, from reading online, I thought that shoulder width alterations are usually prohibitively expensive and complicated (and risky)?

2. Is the sleeve pitch issue fixable (to some acceptable extent) just by taking in a bit of fabric on the rear part of the sleeve? Does it actually need rotation to even get some fixing? I read that sleeve rotation can be really hard and expensive (and again, risky).

Thanks also for pointing me to the tailor's thread! I'm brand new to the forum, didn't know where to post.

 

[Testudo_Aubreii]

1. Re: shoulder width. Just in the back on the left. It looks borderline, and could just be a dropped shoulder; it's not egregiously too wide. But show it to a good alterations tailor, or take more photos and post them in the Tailor's Thread. A few pictures at an angle can only show so much.

2. Never heard of anyone fixing sleeve pitch by narrowing a sleeve. Any good alterations tailor can rotate a sleeve. Of course, stress is on "good." Dry-cleaner-type alterations tailors/seamstresses who just do hems and taking in/letting out waists won't be able to do it. But anybody who has ever actually made coats will. As for expensive: people who are good at what they do rightly expect to get paid for it. Most big cities have at least one good alterations tailor. And most bespoke makers also do alterations work.