How high are your armholes?

[yywwyy]



Steven Hitchcock is generally considered to make the highest armholes on Savile Row - here is a blazer of mine

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

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Wow. That looks really good. Butler and Svenn, thanks for the pictures.

 

[jt10000]

What are the reasons most OTR jackets don't have high armholes? Is they harder to construct, or is there a downside in fit when the arms are not raised?

 

[Louis XIV]

Lower armholes "suit" a grater range of potential customers, I guess.
Just the same as with OTR shirts which always have very wide cuffs and two buttons to accommodate for that.

 

[smc]

As has been (I believe) mentioned, the height of the armscye isn't the only variable in the equation. The angle the sleeve is set at makes a huge difference, as I found out when commissioning my dance tails. The sleeve on all my normal coats are set close to vertical, where the sleeves on my tails are set almost horizontal. This means that a normal coat looks great and unruffled when the arms are down by the side, but goes all to hell with I flap like a bird. Conversely, my tails look spectacular when I'm holding my arms parallel to the floor, but the combination of a high angle and the narrowness of the sleeves and armscye means I can't actually lower my arms by my side.

Bottom line, I doubt anyone will ever invent suit coat that looks perfectly unruffled no matter the arm position. The further you get from the position the coat is "designed" to look good in, the worse it's going to get. (With the possible exception of the bi-swing back, but imo that's a very odd detail for anything but a casual coat. I personally dislike the look, but to each his own).

 

[Despos]



^I've always liked that pic, but it seems a bit misleading Steed did this one for me, which is very high, but as you can see it doesn't solve all mobility problems:

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I only do bi-swing backs now, even for business wear.

The collar gap is not related to the armhole height. This armhole looks too narrow and I don't like the forward position of the side seam. This is contributing to the collar gap. Armholes are only part of the equation. This jacket looks like it has too wide of back and too narrow armhole.
Armhole width, shoulder line, front/back balance, collar height and the armhole all have to relate to each other to give movement and comfort. You might be compensating for an "over fitted" armhole/jacket with a bi-swing back. You could get a similar effect with an inverted pleat on the center back with out the bi-swing.

 

[UnnamedPlayer]

My armholes go all the way up to my shoulders?

Don't they for everyone?