Weight gain vs. Suit fit

[CunningSmeagol]

The clothes size version of this thread was getting unreadable. Try not to ruin this one.

I'm not talking about *how* to lose or gain weight. Let's assume that you have listened to not_a_virus.exe and believe everything he says and it has totally worked for you. You have gained weight and you are still about as lean as you were before.

Do your suits fit differently?

Better? Worse?

Which parts look worst? For me it is the shoulders. Divots. Does anyone have other problems? Balance issues?

How much weight gain have you noticed is enough to ruin what was once a well-fitting jacket?

 

[suited]

It depends on where you carry weight. If your arms/legs are your strong point, you can probably get away with more weight gain. My chest tends to grow the fastest, and it has always been my strong point. If that's the case (or your back) that can cause a problem, especially with shirts. I'd say 15lbs or more and you're gonna have problems fitting into some things. Again, it depends on where the weight went, and of course it depends on how much room your suit had to begin with. If your shirt/suit fits like this, you aren't going to be able to gain any weight at all. The answer can't really be much more specific than "it depends".

 

[A Y]

I gained about 20-30 pounds (165ish to 195 now down to 185ish at 6'), mostly in my butt and posterior chain, and my chest size went up at least 1 size, but I have a pretty weak upper body. Waist increased initially, too, but has gone down now. The biggest suit differences were the vents gaping, and pants being a bit tighter for me around the top. The suit jackets actually look better now, I think.

My shirt collars are also more difficult to button, and some are downright uncomfortable now.

--Andre

 

[CunningSmeagol]

Originally Posted by A Y

I gained about 20-30 pounds (165ish to 195 now down to 185ish at 6'), mostly in my butt and posterior chain, and my chest size went up at least 1 size, but I have a pretty weak upper body. Waist increased initially, too, but has gone down now. The biggest suit differences were the vents gaping, and pants being a bit tighter for me around the top. The suit jackets actually look better now, I think.

My shirt collars are also more difficult to button, and some are downright uncomfortable now.

--Andre

You have a lot of bespoke stuff, right Andre? Did it respond better to size change than off the peg stuff?

 

[A Y]

Originally Posted by CunningSmeagol

You have a lot of bespoke stuff, right Andre? Did it respond better to size change than off the peg stuff?

It depends on a couple of things: how much bigger you've gotten (I consider my gains modest compared to some of the other people who've done Starting Strength primarily because I didn't GOMAD) and how much allowance is built into your clothes.

Bespoke does tend to have more generous inlays (the extra cloth in the seams) than RTW that let you increase the size of the clothes, but there is a limit to it. Some people may be surprised to hear this, but the fit of my bespoke clothes, those from the same cutter and tailor, vary: some are a bit more fitted, while some are looser. I've had one of more fitted suits altered, and it's almost perfect, except for the vents, which still gape a little bit. The pants had to be slightly recut, with extra darts added to the back waist to preserve its shape.

The collars of the shirts have to be redone from scratch, but I haven't done that yet. I don't think that's generally possible with RTW because you don't know the cloth that was used.

--Andre

 

[CunningSmeagol]

^^^ A Y is a serious lifter. This thread is not about getting fat.