“Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society."
– Mark Twain
'Fit Kit' by David Wood
Wardrobe Homework II:
Here are some guidelines to determine if a jacket or shirt that doesn’t fit properly should be tailored. Sometime it is better to invest in a new garment.
JACKETS
• If the jacket fits properly across the chest and shoulders, usually trimming the sides of the coat in an inch or two is a good alteration. Letting the sides out a bit is OK – but if it is more than two inches, the chest and shoulders will probably be too tight. Adjustments to the chest and shoulders are expensive and usually will only make the fit better; not what it should be.
• Shortening or lengthening the sleeves can turn a jacket that appears to not fit well into one that does. Usually, we see sleeves that are too long making the jacket look oversized. We do not recommend shortening the length of a jacket as it will throw off the proportions of the pocket and button stance making the garment look incorrect.
SHIRTS
• Tapering the sides will give a more modern look. More than four inches usually does not work – it’s time for a custom shirt.
• Shortening sleeves to their proper length (cuff should end about one inch beyond wrist bone) is usually a good return on investment.
• Shortening the shirt length up to two inches for an “untucked” look works.
