My first 'real' suit. Would appreciate input!

[JS1357]

Originally Posted by luftvier

Disagree. Get the cuffs, height be dammed. The BBBF trou are relatively slim and will lay better with a cuff.

Also as you may notice, people on this forum tend to like traditional details like cuffs....

 

[Edgar Allan Pwn]

Originally Posted by JS1357

Also as you may notice, people on this forum tend to like traditional details like cuffs....
Are you not 'on this forum' or something? You keep talking like you're some third party who is somehow excluded from, and above all the hustle and bustle of SF. Are you somehow posting on SF via Fark or something? The back is very messy, the lapels are very narrow, the button-point is too high, the sleeves are too long, and the pants are draping very poorly. Some of these things can be fixed, some are things to watch out for on your next suit. That being said, I've spent more money on worse-looking suits, as I'm sure a lot of people here have. Shorten the sleeves, have the jacket taken in around the mid-section wherever you find an excess of material. You look much thinner in your jacketless pics, which leads me to believe it's quite loose. If the back still looks messy afterwards, it might need re-working. I would also highly recommend cuffs in the 1-1.5" range. Not only do they make the pants appear more finished, they also add a bit of weight to the bottom of the pants, which might help with the sloppy drape. Lastly, I'd like to say that if the advice you've received seems overly critical or nit-picky, bear in mind it is not because we're trying to be rude or condescending. We want to help. Picking up on these little details makes future purchases easier and more informed, which ultimately saves you gobs of money. Whenever I feel like people are beating up on me in SF, I think of the following quote:

Originally Posted by Ray Bradbury in Fahrenheit 451

You're afraid of making mistakes. Don't be. Mistakes can be profited by. Man, when I was young I shoved my ignorance in people's faces. They beat me with sticks. By the time I was forty my blunt instrument had been honed to a fine cutting point for me. If you hide your ignorance, no one will hit you and you'll never learn.

 

[luftvier]

Originally Posted by Edgar Allan Pwn

Shorten the sleeves, have the jacket taken in around the mid-section wherever you find an excess of material. You look much thinner in your jacketless pics, which leads me to believe it's quite loose. If the back still looks messy afterwards, it might need re-working.
It's a sack suit. Leave the waist be for now. And when you get the sleeves finished, just have buttons sewn on; don't waste your money on real buttonholes. If you want the authentic BBBF look, have only two buttons sewn on each sleeve.

 

[Edgar Allan Pwn]

Originally Posted by luftvier

It's a sack suit. Leave the waist be for now.

And when you get the sleeves finished, just have buttons sewn on; don't waste your money on real buttonhole.

If you want the authentic BBBF look, have only two buttons sewn on each sleeve.

Forget what I said then.

 

[16simon]

Let's get the important stuff sorted out first: the quick release on your Madone(?) is wrong.... the lever should be on the LH side to match the rear QR.

In cycling terms this is like going around with your fly undone.

 

[unjung]

The lapels are awfully small.

 

[luftvier]

Originally Posted by unjung

The lapels are awfully small.

Originally Posted by beaconshome

…I recently purchased this Brooks Brothers Black Fleece suit…

 

[beaconshome]

Well thanks for the help guys! Hopefully I'll have a chance to get to the tailor sometime soon and show you guys a much cleaner and better looking suit. I plan to shorten the sleeves and pants (obviously), and also take the waist in. I may get some cuffs too.

luftvier, thanks a lot for your comments. Regarding the buttons on the sleeves, what would be the difference in price you think if the buttons were functional vs. just sewn on?

16simon, I know the QR is backwards. I just had my tires replaced at the Trek Store in Madison and the forward direction of the tire is what you see in the picture. I fixed it now, no worries. It's a 2.3 by the way. Madone will be my next one!

 

[Maccimus]

I don't like the tiny lapels...

 

[xudisco07]

Originally Posted by beaconshome

Should I go to the BB store for tailoring?

Yes, alterations are free from a local BB store on all BBBF and GF suits. Except things like working button holes.

 

[JS1357]

Originally Posted by Edgar Allan Pwn

Are you not 'on this forum' or something? You keep talking like you're some third party who is somehow excluded from, and above all the hustle and bustle of SF. Are you somehow posting on SF via Fark or something?

Good point. Thank you for including me!

I am pointing out that it is kind of predictable to see the regular comments on this forum-- cuffs on pants, articulate the waist, etc....

And I don't think all these blanket comments apply to his suit, which I think looks good.

I think for the most part the suit looks fine. It is designed to look that way. Definately do not take in the waist.

 

[ALFAMALE]

I don't think anything can be done, its just a bad suit....

 

[WorkingOnIt]

The suit looks about the same as what most guys on the street are wearing. Work can definitely be done, but I hope you don't feel discouraged by the feedback. This suit is definitely wearable without reinventing the wheel, and the feedback can help you sort out your ideal fit in future suits.

Flat fronts are usually no-cuff. That said, I prefer cuffs on my suit pants and a half-break for length regardless of the front style.

The jacket does seem a bit wider in the shoulders and you could probably try a size down. Or ask your tailor (if he/she is good) how far they might take the jacket in from the shoulders. The cost of the work isn't worth it, but this will give you a rough shoulder measure to look for in the future.

Waist suppression from the jacket sides could probably be done to improve fit without too much cost. Don't go overboard on the suppression since the proportions of the rest of the suit is a bit "loose"

As a side note, I like wider lapels. My suits all have lapels approximately half the width to the shoulder.

This is a sack suit though, so keep it in the ballpark. Not a bad suit in the real world by any means though there is room for improved fit with future suits. I would cap your tailoring costs at $100-150 as the previous posters have mentioned and just wear the suit.

But that's just my two cents.

 

[VelvetGreen]

Originally Posted by JS1357

Good point. Thank you for including me! I am pointing out that it is kind of predictable to see the regular comments on this forum-- cuffs on pants, articulate the waist, etc.... And I don't think all these blanket comments apply to his suit, which I think looks good. I think for the most part the suit looks fine. It is designed to look that way. Definately do not take in the waist.
Because people get the same things wrong over and over again, and there are only a number of things that can go wrong with clothing. What do you expect - 'don't cuff the pants, don't articulate the waist, get a bigger, boxier jacket and chunkier shoes?'. If OP didn't feel there might be something amiss, he would not have posted at all, and if he posted without a feel for what people on SF consider good, it's strange he's posting at all. This is about as annoying as the people who respond to threads with 'oh, and here come the trolls....'. It's not constructive criticism, and OP doesn't need 'supporters'. I'm not attacking you, just pointing something out.

 

[luftvier]

Originally Posted by beaconshome

Well thanks for the help guys! Hopefully I'll have a chance to get to the tailor sometime soon and show you guys a much cleaner and better looking suit. I plan to shorten the sleeves and pants (obviously), and also take the waist in. I may get some cuffs too. luftvier, thanks a lot for your comments. Regarding the buttons on the sleeves, what would be the difference in price you think if the buttons were functional vs. just sewn on?
Don't get functional sleeve buttons. As neat as they are, they're an extravagance that's silly at this point. Save them for when you get a truly custom jacket. They might be anywhere from $10-25 per button hole depending on your tailor. I'd still not worry about waist suppression in the jacket. If you look at the BBBF line's models, you see that the coats hang straight. It looks like you went with a non-shrunken size, so you'll not have the fashion-forward look that plagues much of BBBF's line. Take a look at how the BBBF jackets hang: