How Can You Tell If A Suit Fits?
The right fit is the most important part of any suit. The design, colors, or material used will not look good unless the suit sits well on your body. People have varying opinions about how you should wear a suit, but there is a basic suit 101 that many of them are unaware of.
While their opinions on suits might not be completely wrong, just a single missed point can break your whole look. Therefore, it is critical you pay attention to the areas that can easily go wrong while stitching a suit so it doesn’t end up looking “off” when you try it on.
There are a few rules that have been passed down from previous generations about the proper etiquette of suit-wearing.
These have not changed over time and will probably continue for many generations to come. Let’s go through some of them below.
Signs Your Suit Doesn’t Fit You
- The length of the suit jacket
Unless your tailor left enough space to make adjustments, altering the length of a suit jacket is usually not possible. As such, it is important you get the measurements correctly and discuss them with your tailor before stitching the suit.
A short jacket has become a new trend for modern generations but not everyone can pull it off and if you go too short, it will ruin the whole look. The ideal length is when the jacket reaches around your middle-crotch area or just up to the middle of your thumb. If it’s longer than that, the jacket will look too big on you.
- The shoulders are sagging or tight
The jacket’s shoulder seam should match exactly where your shoulder ends. If it’s too long, the jacket will sag and give you a much wider and bulkier frame. If it’s too short, the jacket will be uncomfortable to wear and will look much too small on you.
The shoulder is one of the most visible areas of a suit and if it looks wrong, the entire suit will be thrown off balance.
- The lapel gap is too wide or pops open
When the shoulders aren’t adjusted correctly and the suit is too big on you, you will have a large chest gap when you button the jacket. Ideally, you want the lapel to lie across your chest with no gaping hole in between.
- Your knuckles are covered by the sleeves of the jacket
The sleeve of the suit jacket needs to end at the top of the wrist. This allows the shirt cuff to also pop out at the correct angle. If the sleeve is too long, it is likely the length of the suit will be long too. You may want to look at another option or adjust the sleeve length which is quite easy to do.
- The collar just isn’t right
One of the biggest pointers towards a wrong fitting jacket is the collar gap and collar rolls. The collar gap is the space in between the suit collar and the shirt collar. The jacket collar should rest against the back of your shirt collar for the perfect fit. If there is a gap, it usually means the suit is too tight for you and adjustments need to be made.
Collar rolls occur when the shoulder area is not adjusted to match the posture or shoulder-length of the wearer. This can be easily fixed by a tailor if the problem is found early on.
- The pants are too tight or sagging
The seat of your pants should be smooth against your behind and there shouldn’t be any pulling of the fabric. If it feels tight when you’re sitting down, you will definitely need to increase the size.
- The pant pockets stick out
If pants fit well, the pocket will rest against your side without popping out even when you sit down. The tighter the pants, the more the pocket will stick out. This is not an easy fix so you should either look at purchasing a new pair or speaking to an experienced tailor.
Why You Should Purchase A Bespoke Suit
Most of us will find at least one or two of these problems when we try on readymade suits at your local tailors or grooming studio. This is because the perfect suit cannot be done ready-made for all of us.
Due to our unique body types, a personal visit to the tailor is necessary if you’re looking for that perfect fit. An experienced tailor will be able to adjust your measurements to account for all the above signs, so the final bespoke suit will be perfectly tailored to fit you!