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Sleeve length frustration

swshepherd

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Took jacket in, came back WAY to long....took it back, wearing french cuff shirt, and the lady there hardly seemed to know what the hell she was doing, wanted to shave 5/8 of the length when the sleeve was coming well down past where my wrist meets my thumb....

So my question: how SHOULD a tailor mark a sleeve to ensure it's not getting caught up on a heavier french cuff shirt? would I be correct in thinking that the jacket sleeve should ultimately fall between the ball of the wrist joint and where the thumb begins?

Thanks for your help....
 

Despos

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Go by the wrist, not the shirt.

Relax your arm, let it hang straight down. Bend your thumb up as if you are hitch hiking.
The notch/corner at the wrist above the bend of your thumb is a good length for your jacket sleeve. Shirt sleeve falls just below that point.

With this method you know if the shirt is too long or too short or if it is the jacket sleeve length that needs adjusting because your wrist point is fixed and won't change.
 

a tailor

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first things first.
make sure that all of your shirt sleeves end at the same point on your hand or wherever.
wear one of these shirts when fitting a jacket. ask the tailor to allow the amount of linen you prefer to show.
then every shirt and jacket combo will be the way you like.
just start the shirt sleeve.
.
 

swshepherd

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thank you both....it seemed like when pinning the sleeve, the extra material under neath wasn't allowing the jacket arm to hang properly....the "hitchiker" trick crystalized it for me....

i've called them and told them not to touch it....
 

finch

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That's and excellent tip, thanks!
Originally Posted by Despos
Go by the wrist, not the shirt.

Relax your arm, let it hang straight down. Bend your thumb up as if you are hitch hiking.
The notch/corner at the wrist above the bend of your thumb is a good length for your jacket sleeve. Shirt sleeve falls just below that point.

With this method you know if the shirt is too long or too short or if it is the jacket sleeve length that needs adjusting because your wrist point is fixed and won't change.
 

oldseed

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FYI
if u go by the wrist and not the shirt, u will have to alter all ur shirts. that's right. every single shirt and jacket u own will end up being altered.

i prefer to leave my shirts alone (i'm cheap) and just alter the jackets according to the sleeves.
 

Despos

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It takes a little experience on the tailors part to mark the sleeves correctly. Even when marking to this wrist point the jacket sleeves can possibly be made too short. Everyone tends to bend their thumb to a different degree but with a few tries it will work for the person doing the marking.

Another thing is to have her mark the sleeve at the back of the wrist close to where the sleeve buttons are. This will help to get the correct angle to the jacket sleeve bottom. One mark on the sleeve front above your thumb, another on the back side of the sleeve.

You want the shirt cuff to show the same amount all around the sleeve opening.
 

Opermann

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Anyone have a photo of a perfect jacket/sleeve length?
 

cheessus

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similar question:

ive read that when your arms are by your side, 1/4 in of the shirt sleeve should be showing when wearing a jacket. however, i can't ever get that to work. the jacket sleeve ends right where its supposed to. i wear a 32/33 but a 34/35 is way too long. the tailor who did my jacket refused to alter the length of the sleeve any more because he said it would mess up the jacket when i tried to move around, like raise my arm or point at stuff. any suggestions?
 

james_timothy

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Originally Posted by Opermann
Anyone have a photo of a perfect jacket/sleeve length?

Others are expert- but I was studying a jacket and shirt execution by Manton just because it was, IMHO, the perfect length.

http://www.styleforum.net/showthread...578#post904578
sleevefitdx6.gif
 

a tailor

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Originally Posted by oldseed
FYI
if u go by the wrist and not the shirt, u will have to alter all ur shirts. that's right. every single shirt and jacket u own will end up being altered.

i prefer to leave my shirts alone (i'm cheap) and just alter the jackets according to the sleeves.


the cheapest and best way is to adjust the shirt sleeve first.
all you need to do is move the button so that the cuff will not slide past the point you want it to stop at. usually the base of the thumb or where you like. this way all cuffs will stop at the same point. even if the sleeve is long, that cuff will be at the same place on all shirts. this way you will always have the same base point to start from.
 

FidelCashflow

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That pic of manton shows what it should look like. Jacket sleeve should be across the wrist, the end of the shirt should barely touch the palm.

I've noticed some tailors don't seem to understand the concept of wanting to show some cuff, its usually the sign of a crappy tailor.
 

penguin vic

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Originally Posted by Despos
Go by the wrist, not the shirt.

Relax your arm, let it hang straight down. Bend your thumb up as if you are hitch hiking.
The notch/corner at the wrist above the bend of your thumb is a good length for your jacket sleeve. Shirt sleeve falls just below that point.

With this method you know if the shirt is too long or too short or if it is the jacket sleeve length that needs adjusting because your wrist point is fixed and won't change.


This makes sense. Thanks for the tip, I'd never heard / thought of it.
 

chewy

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I always thought that it was measured up from the tip of your thumb, with your hand and arm completely relaxed. I, for example, like a 4" length, meaning that the sleeve is 4" from the tip of my relaxed thumb. I also understand that 4" is about as short as you can reasonably go.
 

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