Please give your critique on my new suit

[StylingUK]

After reading SF for awhile, I finally took the plunge and got myself a MTM suit. The pictures were taken at the hip level so the angle might make it look a little worse. However, I think my jacket is too short and the back doesn’t look right. What do you gentlemen think? I would appreciate any comments and suggestions as to what improvements I can make to it. Thanks a ton!

 

[Eccentric]

Okay, here are the problems as I see them. Bear in mind that I am not an expert.
-The pants are too long, you should have less break.
-The sleeves are a tad long, you might want to consider having them shortened a little.
-I'm not entirely sure what is happening in back, but I think it may be just that there is too much fabric in the upper torso for the ammount of waist suppression. If that is the case, you could probably have it altered. May I ask where you had it made?

 

[bigbjorn]

The suit is far too short (1"-1.5&quot and the shaping on the back is the worst I've seen. Not sure what is going on there -- looks like an excess of fabric over the shoulder blades and a lack of shaping to accommodate the waist suppression. Get your money back. There's no saving that suit. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

 

[Millerp]

There's no saving that suit. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

+1

 

[texas_jack]

Originally Posted by bigbjorn

The suit is far too short (1"-1.5") and the shaping on the back is the worst I've seen. Not sure what is going on there -- looks like an excess of fabric over the shoulder blades and a lack of shaping to accommodate the waist suppression. Get your money back. There's no saving that suit. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

+1

 

[StylingUK]

Thanks guys but is it so bad the problems cannot be fixed? I would hate to throw it away

 

[Twotone]

Looks about two sizes too big.

Twotone

 

[bigbjorn]

Originally Posted by StylingUK

Thanks guys but is it so bad the problems cannot be fixed? I would hate to throw it away

It's really hard to say. The length is what it is. Doesn't look so bad from the front, but the balance is definitely off. In this day and age of fashion-forward short lengths, perhaps you can get away with it. The shoulders look big, but fixing it is major surgery and can't be done economically. So what you're left with is fixing the excess fabric in the upper mid of the back. I suspect this could be done from the side seams. I think you take the back picture to a tailor and see what they suggest. I think if you do that successfully, the suit will be wearable. Oh, perhaps I should note -- this is all based on a Styleforum view of the world, of course. To all but an elite cadre of internet critics, you look fine.

 

[Sanguis Mortuum]

Where did you get the suit from? It does look rather odd...

 

[FreedBird]

It looks like a poorly done Asian MTM piece. Hopefully it was cheap. I wouldn't be happy with the results, sorry.

 

[teddieriley]

The jacket has major problems. With the shoulders, the roll to the button in the front, the length and how the back drapes from the shoulders through your lats. I'm not sure where to start with respect to details.

 

[penguin vic]

I'll echo what other are saying. I think the short jacket length, oddness in the back and balance issues seal the deal.

Styling wise, I think the very narrow peak lapels look odd given your / your jacket's proportions and the amount of shoulder padding doesn't suit you.

 

[StylingUK]

Thanks for your responses. One problem that I always have when trying on suits is that there is always a big sholder roll at the back. I thought I could get a better fit if I got it made to my measurements. I have already asked for less padding on the shoulder so I have no idea why it still look like that. I sent my measurements and have it made for me so maybe there may be some measurements that I took wrong. But even so, I don't think the margin of error can be that off. I knew about the fact the suit will not come out perfect the first time but I didn't expect it to be off so much that I can't bring to a tailor to fix. The first time I got the suit, it was way too big on me so I thought its because I chose relax fit instead of the standard fit. So I told them I would like it to be changed to 'normal' fit instead of the 'relax' fit and that the trouser length and jacket length needs to be shortened since they were longer than the measurements I gave them. Obviously, I screwed up telling them to change the jacket length too short, that is my fault (I went by the knuckle jacket length rule...I guess my arms are too short

) I sent them pictures and was hoping they could at least make the fit a bit better. But after getting the suit back, the shoulder roll problem is still there and the back looks even more loose for some reason. I'm not sure whether they change the suit back 'normal' fit at all because as you can see, the suit is still quite big. Judging from your feedbacks, it seems I should just cut my loss and forget about spending more money to get it corrected? I was planning to wear the suit maybe to attend academic conferences and not work environment. I would really hate to just throw it to the back of my closet but would certainly not want to stand out from the crowd if I put it on either. Any suggestions what I can do with it? Maybe wear the jacket with jeans or khakis when going out? I would want to at least use it for something and not write it off as a total loss.

Any suggestions please???

 

[teddieriley]

We identified the problem areas. Now all you can do is try to work with the tailor to see how much they can fix without additional expense (i.e. shipping - you should ask for their FedEx Acct. No). I wouldn't take it to a local tailor, it's not something he/she would be able to fix.

For MTM to work, you need a representative of the Company, who knows what they are doing, to take the measurements. They can identify problem areas (such as sloping shoulders, varying arm lengths, posture, etc.). It's bad enough when in-house tailors do the measurements and send them off to the MTM shop, and there are still more errors than there should be. But when one takes their own measurements and sends them in, to me that is disaster, and it's only by luck that it works out in the first few attempts/alterations. That is counter to what the MTM experience is all about, and I highly discourage it, for the reasons we see above. To me, that is not MTM. I know a true MTM outfit can be more expensive, but if it's beyond one's means, just wait until it is rather than settling for something that aspires to be MTM, but it's not. Otherwise, go with something that is known to be reputable (and more affordable), such as Thick as Thieves. Nothing is guaranteed to work the first or even second time, but it reduces the risk.

Hopefully all works out for you.

 

[CharlesAlexander]

I would say just get an OTR suit, then post here asking for suggestions about what to get altered. Take those suggestions to a good tailor in your area and have them alter it.

I'd do this until you find a good MTM. It's better to spend the time altering a nice OTR suit, then completely wasting (possibly) thousands on a bad MTM that you can't wear.