The Tailors' Thread: Fit Feedback and Alteration Suggestions

[othertravel]

Cross-post from the A&S Expats thread, just because I realized it made slightly more sense here:

Just looking for a few opinions to make sure I'm not going nuts.

--I commissioned a MTM suit for my wedding from a suitmaker who is regularly suggested on this thread/forum. It's my first MTM commission.

--I've had one in person measurement session, one in-person fitting, and took delivery of the "finished" suit a few days ago.

--The front of the suit looks fine, but I'm concerned about the back and sleeves.

--In particular, the shoulders look visibly off to me, especially from the back. My left shoulder (when viewed from the back) slopes more than my right shoulder. However, the right shoulder in the jacket has a lot of structure to it, with wadding/padding (not sure the technical term) extending past the natural shoulder and into the sleevehead. The left shoulder, in contrast, is very soft with almost no wadding/padding. This strikes me as backwards--shouldn't the lower shoulder be padded?

--The pitch on the sleeves also seems wrong, as well as the extra fabric through the back. I had expected a smoother line through the sleeves, and the jacket to sit smoothly on the back of my shoulders. I understand some of this might be the English Drape style or the way I'm standing.

Am I over-reacting or is there something to my observations?


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Somebody else mentioned this, but the pockets are placed too low. Other than that, it looks decent. If you’re in London, why don’t you try Dunhill or Thom Sweeney MTM?

But it’s truly not bad. If the maker (Steed?) can fix the sleeve pitch, and maybe the back, it will look pretty good.

 

[jb335]

Somebody else mentioned this, but the pockets are placed too low. Other than that, it looks decent. If you’re in London, why don’t you try Dunhill or Thom Sweeney MTM?

But it’s truly not bad. If the maker (Steed?) can fix the sleeve pitch, and maybe the back, it will look pretty good.

Thanks, definitely helpful. I think in part the low pockets is due to the fact that I normally take short length suits, and I would imagine moving the pockets up might not extend beyond the scope of the MTM process. Also the shirt I'm wearing here has sleeves that are slightly too short, hence no cuff.

 

[Connemara]

I’m trying to figure out if my next jacket should be a hair shorter. This is from The Anthology and I like the fit, in general, but I’m torn on the length.

Would shortening it by a centimeter make the top and bottom blocks of my body more balanced? Or is that unnecessary because they are balanced already?

Note: no alterations have been made yet. This is fresh out of the box.

 

[ppk]

I’m trying to figure out if my next jacket should be a hair shorter. This is from The Anthology and I like the fit, in general, but I’m torn on the length.

Would shortening it by a centimeter make the top and bottom blocks of my body more balanced? Or is that unnecessary because they are balanced already?

Note: no alterations have been made yet. This is fresh out of the box.

Please take this with a grain of salt. I'm relatively new to this world.

The buttoning point looks a bit too high and the jacket is too long to my eyes. A shorter jacket should help with the balance but that won't help with the high buttoning point.

 

[zr3rs]

Would shortening it by a centimeter make the top and bottom blocks of my body more balanced? Or is that unnecessary because they are balanced already?

I am a fan of a classic length, but this is about 2cm too long (sleeves as well). If you would shorten the jacket, the style would change (low buttoning point and shorts skirts). I would not do it.
I always have the same problem, but for me everything off the rack, even most long sizes, is 2 cm too short...

 

[DorianGreen]

I’m trying to figure out if my next jacket should be a hair shorter. This is from The Anthology and I like the fit, in general, but I’m torn on the length.

Would shortening it by a centimeter make the top and bottom blocks of my body more balanced? Or is that unnecessary because they are balanced already?

Note: no alterations have been made yet. This is fresh out of the box.

It looks a bit too long, especially for modern standards, but not to the extent I wouldn't wear it. You definitely need to have the sleeves shortened though.

 

[aoman]

Cross-post from the A&S Expats thread, just because I realized it made slightly more sense here:

Just looking for a few opinions to make sure I'm not going nuts.

--I commissioned a MTM suit for my wedding from a suitmaker who is regularly suggested on this thread/forum. It's my first MTM commission.

--I've had one in person measurement session, one in-person fitting, and took delivery of the "finished" suit a few days ago.

--The front of the suit looks fine, but I'm concerned about the back and sleeves.

--In particular, the shoulders look visibly off to me, especially from the back. My left shoulder (when viewed from the back) slopes more than my right shoulder. However, the right shoulder in the jacket has a lot of structure to it, with wadding/padding (not sure the technical term) extending past the natural shoulder and into the sleevehead. The left shoulder, in contrast, is very soft with almost no wadding/padding. This strikes me as backwards--shouldn't the lower shoulder be padded?

--The pitch on the sleeves also seems wrong, as well as the extra fabric through the back. I had expected a smoother line through the sleeves, and the jacket to sit smoothly on the back of my shoulders. I understand some of this might be the English Drape style or the way I'm standing.

Am I over-reacting or is there something to my observations?


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This is actually a miss in your stature in both the jacket and pants. The sleeve rotation is off (common in someone who is slightly erect), the fullness of in the back is a consequence of your shoulder blades being more pinched, and needs to be taken in. The shoulder slope is off, and messing that up requires a recut of the angle on the top shoulder seam, not adding more padding and sleeve head (which they also probably used to try to adjust for the error in sleeve rotation), Sleeves are a little longer than my preference, but not terrible, some people like them like that. Also, while you didn't show them specifically, I can tell the balance of the rise on the pants is off because of the breaks in the back of your hamstrings. This is really common on people who stand a little erect and/or have a flat seat. Basically, the back of the pant hangs longer than the front on you so you get those breaks.

I don't know the maker, but I'd share some of your feedback with them. Most would want to correct it rather than have you upset or looking like that, which is not a great ad for their work.

 

[jb335]

This is actually a miss in your stature in both the jacket and pants. The sleeve rotation is off (common in someone who is slightly erect), the fullness of in the back is a consequence of your shoulder blades being more pinched, and needs to be taken in. The shoulder slope is off, and messing that up requires a recut of the angle on the top shoulder seam, not adding more padding and sleeve head (which they also probably used to try to adjust for the error in sleeve rotation), Sleeves are a little longer than my preference, but not terrible, some people like them like that. Also, while you didn't show them specifically, I can tell the balance of the rise on the pants is off because of the breaks in the back of your hamstrings. This is really common on people who stand a little erect and/or have a flat seat. Basically, the back of the pant hangs longer than the front on you so you get those breaks.

I don't know the maker, but I'd share some of your feedback with them. Most would want to correct it rather than have you upset or looking like that, which is not a great ad for their work.

appreciate your feedback, especially on the jacket. The maker has taken it back to correct it, I'm hopeful it will come back looking better. Since it's MTM, I'm assuming the wires maybe go crossed at the factory and hope that the tailor himself will have a closer look at it this time--he's got a lot of experience.

The trousers are my fault, they actually fit quite well but I threw them on in haste for the photos and didn't have them pulled up properly 🤦‍♂️

 

[fpm9]

Hello, I bought this RTW suit from Spier and Mackay. I think the folds on my biceps around the elbow look off. Does anyone know what is causing it? I have big arms but small forearms in comparison to my frame, my guess is sleeves are a little tight around my biceps. But I am no expert.

 

[BaloneyT]

I recently had this suit MTM in London for my wedding by a recommended company. The suit looks nice from the front (to me), but after taking it home and looking at the back properly, I am seeing a lot of rippling and bunching, especially on the backs of the sleeves (particularly the left sleeve), and across the back panels, and also a fold where the left back panel meets the left arm. I'm wondering what others think.

Video showing with and without waistcoat.

 

[jb335]

I recently had this suit MTM in London for my wedding by a recommended company. The suit looks nice from the front (to me), but after taking it home and looking at the back properly, I am seeing a lot of rippling and bunching, especially on the backs of the sleeves (particularly the left sleeve), and across the back panels, and also a fold where the left back panel meets the left arm. I'm wondering what others think.

Video showing with and without waistcoat.

Ha! This sounds familiar. Did you hang the suit up for a day or so first before you took these photos and video? In the video it actually looks better than in the photos here, at least to my eye. I think the sleeves are just cut full and you shouldn't expect them to be super close fitting. The sleeves look a little long to me and the shoulders are also maybe a bit wide, but again, I'm not an expert--just someone who is dealing with similar issues. The back looks fine in the videos and I think there's also probably meant to be some drape in it. The trousers look a little off to me but I can't say more than that--are they sitting properly on your waist?

 

[jazzyman]

...

 

[BaloneyT]

Ha! This sounds familiar. Did you hang the suit up for a day or so first before you took these photos and video? In the video it actually looks better than in the photos here, at least to my eye. I think the sleeves are just cut full and you shouldn't expect them to be super close fitting. The sleeves look a little long to me and the shoulders are also maybe a bit wide, but again, I'm not an expert--just someone who is dealing with similar issues. The back looks fine in the videos and I think there's also probably meant to be some drape in it. The trousers look a little off to me but I can't say more than that--are they sitting properly on your waist?

Ha oh yes I suspect we went to the same place! Did they manage to fix yours? I emailed the boss the pics/video who also did the final fitting and he didn't think it needed anything else doing to it, but I'll take it back in again next week anyway. My wedding is in two weeks and I don't live in London so it's getting a bit stressful.

I gave it an iron before doing the video and was wearing the waistcoat in the first part of the video which helps fill out the back, but no I hadn't left it hanging yet. It's been on the hanger about 16 hours now though, so I'll check it later today. My feel is the pitch of the arms is off and the space in the back is not conforming to my relatively flat back. I'm not expert either, but I do have better fitting off the rack jackets I've had adjusted in my opinion.

The trousers were a bit of a saga as they were about 6 inches too big at the waist when they first arrived (!). They made two adjustments before the waist was right, but I don't know if going down that many sizes has resulted in some problems like too much loose fabric around the seat. However they did tell me it's best to keep the cut loose to avoid drape issues I guess due to the light fabric.

 

[breakaway01]

I recently had this suit MTM in London for my wedding by a recommended company. The suit looks nice from the front (to me), but after taking it home and looking at the back properly, I am seeing a lot of rippling and bunching, especially on the backs of the sleeves (particularly the left sleeve), and across the back panels, and also a fold where the left back panel meets the left arm. I'm wondering what others think.

Video showing with and without waistcoat.

Not a tailor but front/back balance looks off. The back is long and front is short which is leading to the wrinkling at your back. Sleeve pitch might be off a bit.

 

[OGE1815]

Hi all,

I’d like to get your take on something…

A while back I posted a jacket I had made. There was an error / issue with the shoulder.

I took it in, the tailor blamed the “bump” you see below on anatomy.

Since, I’ve confirmed it’s not anatomy — and as you can see the bump is also there when someone else (my fiancé) wears it — all be it to a lesser extent. You can see the difference on here left to right below.

Just after I last saw this tailor, they told me there’s nothing else they can do.

But I still emailed them recently to ask them if they could help… because they’ve been paid, and I have a jacket with a defect. To my email I got no response.

I plan to recoup my funds out of principle, but before I go about what I have planned, I’m curious to know what you would do in my situation?

— Ollie