The Tailors' Thread: Fit Feedback and Alteration Suggestions

[Xcaliber]

My first $400 suit from Men's Warehouse many years ago fit like a garbage bag and I was swimming in it, the fabric was also terrible, it was the reason why i hated wearing suits. Since then I've owned few Macy's BAR III 100% wool suits, and some JCPenny's Poly suits, none of them cost more than $300, all of them needed adjustment from my tailor to shorten the sleeves, suppressed waist, and shorten the pants, but all of them still didn't fit as well as I'd like. I believed one of the problem is that I have a petite body frame, I'm 40 yr old and have been at 5'6 and only 120 lb throughout my entire adult life, it's impossible to find any OTR suits to fit me properly without going through adjustments by my tailor. Based on a friend suggestion I decided to give local MTM a try, with high hope that it would fit me better, since all measurements were done by the reputable tailor/owner, it cost me an arm and leg at $2K for this italian suits!

Well, after 3 weeks I picked it up last weekend, the trousers is perfect and am very impressed with the fit, fabric and construction. Unfortunately the jacket doesn't fit quite right under both arms at the back, triceps area also looks awful. I'm still waiting for the shop owner to respond to my email inquiry if this is something can be fix by them. In the mean time, I wanted to get some few inputs from you guys to see exactly what went wrong with my suits, if it is an easy fix or at all salvageable by any tailor. Man I feel stupid for spending so much money on a suits that do not fit better than the cheap Bar III from Macy's.

 

[Koala-T]

IANAT, but yeah, you are right that the back looks too big, and I'd say the problem with the sleeves is primarily pitch.

 

[Dingusberry]

Are you supposed to taper the dress trousers when you shorten them at the tailor?

I bought a suit from SuitSupply in the Summer, and the trousers need to be shortened by a couple inches. And the seller recommended tapering them too. What is a decent leg opening for suit trousers? I am 5'7 for reference.

 

[Koala-T]

Are you supposed to taper the dress trousers when you shorten them at the tailor?

I bought a suit from SuitSupply in the Summer, and the trousers need to be shortened by a couple inches. And the seller recommended tapering them too. What is a decent leg opening for suit trousers? I am 5'7 for reference.

15"-16" around, would probably be good for your height. And yes, you can certainly have them tapered. It all depends on how fashion forward you want to look. I hear the SuSu reps try to talk everyone into a smaller tighter jacket than they should wear, so maybe they are fine.

Do you the circumference of the leg opening as it stands right now?

 

[DarkRider23]

Can I get someone's two cents on the shoulders for this jacket? Decided to stop by the store on my way to the gym today and try them on. The first is a 38R and the second is a 39R. To me, they both look fine and pretty much identical with the 39 being a tad bit bigger on the shoulders. I just wanted someone else's opinion before I pulled the trigger and bought one of the suits in either size.

 

[flvinny521]

Not a tailor, but they both look too tight. The button is pulling on both.

 

[Koala-T]

Also, I assume you are buying pants to match it.

 

[virtu]

Hello all

New member here and this is my 3rd post.

As indicated in another thread (http://www.styleforum.net/t/512711/...estions-classic-menswear-wk-of-nov-23-2015/15) I need a little bit more instruction about this jacket.


Quote:
In the other thread I received the advise that the shoulder are a little bit wide, but now I have one more information, I live in Canada and here I definitely need to use a sweater under the jacket, so remembering that I already tried a 44T and it is ok, but seems that if I use something thicker under it will be too small, do you think for winter conditions where I am going to use a sweater this jacket will be ok?

Edit: also my shoulder bone is just around 0.4cm off from the seam of the shoulder jacket.
Edit II: sleeve and all other minor adjustments will be made if I decided to keep this jacket.

Thanks a lot

 

[Dingusberry]

15"-16" around, would probably be good for your height. And yes, you can certainly have them tapered. It all depends on how fashion forward you want to look. I hear the SuSu reps try to talk everyone into a smaller tighter jacket than they should wear, so maybe they are fine.

Do you the circumference of the leg opening as it stands right now?

No, sorry I do not have the circumference right now, but I didn't think the leg opening needed the tapering, and the tailor/seamstress didn't say I needed it either.

 

[BackInTheJox]

I apologize in advance for the abomination contained herein.

I recently got a MTM suit from Black Lapel (I had actually had a quite good experience with Indochino a few years ago, but wanted to try BL as they seem to have a slightly better rep). I know, these online MTM aren't great, but I have an odd shape and it's impossible to find a suit off the rack that fits after tailoring.

I'm 5'7"/170lbs, bodybuilder/athletic build with a ~41" chest and 32" waist. Broad shoulders, big chest, narrow stomach/waist, but larger butt.

I think in my mind I wanted to "highlight" my physique rather than complement/soften my build, and ended up with a suit jacket that obviously needs major work.

Here are two photos, front and back (I apologize for the quality). The sleeves need to be lengthened a tad, that I can figure as much. The stomach/waist is where the biggest problem is, obviously. Way too tapered/suppressed, which causes terrible bunching in the back (there's a bit on the upper back/shoulders too, but nothing nearly as bad IMHO). I am trying to figure out how much to have this "let out" (I am actually going to have the jacket remade, I just don't know how much to tell them to add back onto the original measurement for the stomach/waist).

Also, do you think the flare at the bottom of the coat is simply because of the extra waist suppression, or is that a sign of the measurements of the hips/bottom of the coat being too large?
Thanks, and try not to laugh too much! You guys are an amazing resource!

 

[Kevin24]

Got this Hickey Freeman sport jacket the other day from Sierra Trading Post.

I am very unsure about the fit as there seems to be some excess space in the lapels. I am thinking about returning it and getting one from Suit Supply instead.

I would be curious to hear feedback.

Thank you in advance for any replies I might get.

I was wondering if anyone had any opinion on mine?

Thank you!

 

[Ttailor]



My first $400 suit from Men's Warehouse many years ago fit like a garbage bag and I was swimming in it, the fabric was also terrible, it was the reason why i hated wearing suits. Since then I've owned few Macy's BAR III 100% wool suits, and some JCPenny's Poly suits, none of them cost more than $300, all of them needed adjustment from my tailor to shorten the sleeves, suppressed waist, and shorten the pants, but all of them still didn't fit as well as I'd like. I believed one of the problem is that I have a petite body frame, I'm 40 yr old and have been at 5'6 and only 120 lb throughout my entire adult life, it's impossible to find any OTR suits to fit me properly without going through adjustments by my tailor. Based on a friend suggestion I decided to give local MTM a try, with high hope that it would fit me better, since all measurements were done by the reputable tailor/owner, it cost me an arm and leg at $2K for this italian suits! Well, after 3 weeks I picked it up last weekend, the trousers is perfect and am very impressed with the fit, fabric and construction. Unfortunately the jacket doesn't fit quite right under both arms at the back, triceps area also looks awful. I'm still waiting for the shop owner to respond to my email inquiry if this is something can be fix by them. In the mean time, I wanted to get some few inputs from you guys to see exactly what went wrong with my suits, if it is an easy fix or at all salvageable by any tailor. Man I feel stupid for spending so much money on a suits that do not fit better than the cheap Bar III from Macy's.

Yes the back is big especially at chest level which also affects how the sleeves look as the excess fabric has no where to go but to collapse. it should be possible to fix some of this problem with a combination of alterations taking in the side back seam (more on the back panel until the back looks better) and maybe some on the underarm panel. The issue with taking in the side back seam alone is the armhole and a lack of fabric left inside the garment to reshape it correctly.

 

[Ttailor]



I apologize in advance for the abomination contained herein. I recently got a MTM suit from Black Lapel (I had actually had a quite good experience with Indochino a few years ago, but wanted to try BL as they seem to have a slightly better rep). I know, these online MTM aren't great, but I have an odd shape and it's impossible to find a suit off the rack that fits after tailoring. I'm 5'7"/170lbs, bodybuilder/athletic build with a ~41" chest and 32" waist. Broad shoulders, big chest, narrow stomach/waist, but larger butt. I think in my mind I wanted to "highlight" my physique rather than complement/soften my build, and ended up with a suit jacket that obviously needs major work. Here are two photos, front and back (I apologize for the quality). The sleeves need to be lengthened a tad, that I can figure as much. The stomach/waist is where the biggest problem is, obviously. Way too tapered/suppressed, which causes terrible bunching in the back (there's a bit on the upper back/shoulders too, but nothing nearly as bad IMHO). I am trying to figure out how much to have this "let out" (I am actually going to have the jacket remade, I just don't know how much to tell them to add back onto the original measurement for the stomach/waist). Also, do you think the flare at the bottom of the coat is simply because of the extra waist suppression, or is that a sign of the measurements of the hips/bottom of the coat being too large? Thanks, and try not to laugh too much! You guys are an amazing resource!

Well what can one say? It is obviously too tight in the waist and yes the flare at the hip is likely being exaggerated by the waist suppression. You do have a challenging shape to deal with. Were you seen in person for measurments or a fitting in a standard jacket before ordering? Did you have any guidance in sending your measurements? Did you measure yourself? I am not familiar with the list of measurements they have asked for in online ordering. Do they ask for your basic body measurements or are you adding ease to your measurements or to only some of them based on what info you think they are asking for? It is odd that you managed to get something that was big enough in the shoulders and hips and so small in the waist. Perhaps you can revisit the numbers you have based this on and if you get a remake, send them these pictures to illustrate the problem.

 

[BackInTheJox]

Well what can one say?
It is obviously too tight in the waist and yes the flare at the hip is likely being exaggerated by the waist suppression.
You do have a challenging shape to deal with.
Were you seen in person for measurments or a fitting in a standard jacket before ordering? Did you have any guidance in sending your measurements? Did you measure yourself?
I am not familiar with the list of measurements they have asked for in online ordering. Do they ask for your basic body measurements or are you adding ease to your measurements or to only some of them based on what info you think they are asking for?
It is odd that you managed to get something that was big enough in the shoulders and hips and so small in the waist.
Perhaps you can revisit the numbers you have based this on and if you get a remake, send them these pictures to illustrate the problem.

Hi Ttailor, thanks for the reply!

The measuring was done with the help of my wife. I did it the same way I did 3 years ago when I got a suit from Indochino. They ask for a bunch of various measurements including shoulder width (acromium to acromium), upper arm circumference, chest circumference, stomach circumference (near the umbilicus), hip/butt circumference, etc. The idea is that you submit these measurements and they create the garment based on whatever preconceived amount of "adding" they need to do to the jacket/pants. You also have the option of 3 different "fits" (Classic, Tailored, or Slim . . . I chose Tailored) which presumably affects how much or how little they add to your own measurements.

I suspect I may have either measured incorrectly for the stomach circumference, or been inadvertently "sucking in" my stomach when measuring without realizing it. Either way, I suspect that something on the order of an extra 1-2" in that measurement should be increased, no? My hope was to not end up with a boxy looking suit, but the pendulum definitely swung way too far in the wrong direction.

I will be emailing them these photos as well (they usually request fit photos when you request a remake).

 

[otherw1s3]

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