Tailoring question re blazers or suit jackets....

[Whoisjohngalt415]

Hello folks, I have a question about suit tailoring. I recently bought an Armani blazer from a dept store and the sleeves are too long. Because of the unique stitching and buttons, I can't alter the sleeve length from the cuffs. So the tailor at Nordstroms told me he could shorten the sleeves from the shoulder, by taking off the sleeve and cutting it from that end. He made it sound like it was an easy fix, but I'm a little wary. Seems like a pretty treacherous concept. How risky is this? I feel like removing the entire sleeve and re-sewing the shoulder might result in a different or tighter fit around the arm holes, bunching at the shoulder, or just a different look where the sleeve meets the shoulders. Any experience with this? Should I just trust a Nordstrom tailor or take it to an outside tailor? I love the jacket fit and don't want to ruin it for a half inch on the cuffs. Thanks.

 

[Blackhood]

Half an inch is totally fine to be taken from the crown (the top of the sleeve). I've personally seen 3" inches taken from the crown without adverse effects.

 

[Whoisjohngalt415]

Thanks. How do they do it so it doesn't impact the tightness in the armholes and/or the way the shoulder seam looks when it lays on the shoulder? Seems like a complex procedure to remove entire sleeves. Is that a relatively safe alteration? Most sleeves aren't unique on the cuffs so I'm wondering how rare it is that they do this.

 

[TonyThe Tailor]

Does it have functional buttonholes? or imitation buttonholes? If imitation, shortening can be done the normal way and just replace the imitation buttonholes. If functional, then to shorten 1/2" from the bottom can be tough depending on how it was finished and if both of your arms are exactly the same length. Only a VERY competent tailor can shorten from the shoulder and retain the original shape, pitch and setting.

 

[aravenel]

As others have said, taking a sleeve in from the sleevehead is definitely possible. However, this is not an easy thing to do. Did you also buy the suit at the Nordstroms where you took it to have the tailoring done? I ask because usually department store tailors can replace a suit if their tailor screws it up. The same can't be said of third party tailors. Worth asking them about if that's where you bought it...

 

[Despos]

What is so unique about the stitching and the buttons?

 

[Whoisjohngalt415]

Thanks for all the responses. The uniqueness of the cuffs is that there is light blue stitching about a half inch from the cuff. Also has buttons not sure if functional but the nordstrom tailor said he couldn't shorten from cuffs or it would compromise the stitching. He seemed pretty non-chalant about how easy it is to do it from the shoulder. I pressed him about whether it would compromise the shape of the shoulder and he seemed pretty confident. Then again, they were trying to sell me on the tailoring, so who knows. I'm just worried that the shoulders are going to hang differently. Seems like ripping the sleeves off an Armani jacket and sewing back on with half inch off e shoulder crown would be incredibly difficult. But their reaction was "these guys are good, they tailor $3000 suits all the time". But my reaction was "yeah but rarely do suits have unique cuff stitching or buttons at prevent shortening from cuffs. I guess if they screw it up, they are nordstrom in house tailors so they would have to refund my money.

 

[mrjames]

Originally Posted by Whoisjohngalt415

Thanks for all the responses. The uniqueness of the cuffs is that there is light blue stitching about a half inch from the cuff. Also has buttons not sure if functional but the nordstrom tailor said he couldn't shorten from cuffs or it would compromise the stitching.

Believe it or not armani is not the only person in the world who can sew, the tailor could put the stitching line back in if it really means that much to you

Functional cuffs are where the buttons can be actually passes through the button hole, if there is stitching there but no hole, then it's easy to just unpick the stitch, move the buttons and resew the button hole

I think the tailor is being lazy, he will have set prices for tailoring from the cuff and tailoring from the shoulder, he won't know what to charge to do something different.
Although we can't really make a real judgement call without seeing the jacket, if it has functional button holes then it 100% has to be done from the shoulder

He seemed pretty non-chalant about how easy it is to do it from the shoulder. I pressed him about whether it would compromise the shape of the shoulder and he seemed pretty confident. Then again, they were trying to sell me on the tailoring, so who knows. I'm just worried that the shoulders are going to hang differently. Seems like ripping the sleeves off an Armani jacket and sewing back on with half inch off e shoulder crown would be incredibly difficult. But their reaction was "these guys are good, they tailor $3000 suits all the time". But my reaction was "yeah but rarely do suits have unique cuff stitching or buttons at prevent shortening from cuffs. I guess if they screw it up, they are nordstrom in house tailors so they would have to refund my money.

I'm guessing this is a casual blazer, not a suit jacket, so the fit is less of a massive issue. Altering the shoulders is fine, I don't think it will make much of a difference