Should a sportcoat fit differently than a blazer or suit jacket?

[illiterut]

I bought a couple of sport coats on sale from Macy’s. Because the sleeves are too long on both jackets, I brought them in to my local tailor. In addition to altering the sleeves, the tailor also wanted to bring in the sides a little bit. I went along with it, but I was a little bit surprised, because I thought sport coats typically hung a bit looser than suit coats. I am by no means a style expert, and would welcome opinions on this matter. Should I tell my tailor not to bring the sides of the jackets in?

 

[rjc149]

I think traditionally, a sport coat was supposed to allow layering underneath, as it was 'outerwear' in a outdoors sport sense (ie. riding, hunting, shooting, fishing etc.) so it was supposed to be roomier... but I don't honestly know.

 

[Mr Tickle]

I don't think most sports coats, perhaps unless you are buying them from very traditional country clothier type makers, are still cut that way, i.e to work as outerwear over several layers of wool/fleece, like they would have been worn in the old days by country folks.

Also a tailor I spoke to who mainly works with traditional English country wear type tweeds told me that sports coats are supposed to cover the cuff of the shirt completely. Not show a bit of cuff as seems to be common internet wisdom on the matter. Because they are supposed to be rugged outerwear that protects the clothing underneath it. Rather than refined/elevated casual wear as the are usually worn today.

 

[maxalex]

Whether a suit or a separate, a jacket should fit you..well. There is no different approach. In both cases, a closer waist looks better on most men, unless you're going for the old Brooks Bros sack look--not recommended, nor would most guys on this forum recommend the other extreme of the super-tight PeeWee Herman look, fortunately now falling out of fashion.

That said, I have some tweedy jackets I often wear with cashmere sweater vests in winter, and I prefer them to be a bit roomier at the waist than a suit jacket, so I can still button them after dinner. Otherwise, the fit should be the same.

 

[DapperPhilly]

IMO whether a SC or SJ some cuff should show.

 

[josepidal]

No, in that the fundamental of the fit is the chest and shoulders, and you cannot alter the shoulders of a jacket. When I have suits and jackets tailored, the pattern and the basic fit are the same, even if details like closed or open quarters change.

 

[double00]

it would be interesting experiment :

take two differently-fabricked bespoke garments made for the same client and the same time by the same tailor and then reverse engineer the as-made pattern , to see to what degree it is possible for two distinct fabrics ( for instance , a linen monks cloth vs a worsted twill ) to be tailored as the same .

i sort of suspect they would end up differently tailored if not differently patterned . so my take is that choice of fabric is likely such a profound input that to realize the idea of a garment given constancy of the other obvious factors might well require a difference . now that i'm thinking about it fabric differential probably factors into the effectiveness of mtm programs as well