Suit sleeves - too short when arms outstretched?

[acurrie7x]

Hello all

I'm a bit of a philistine with all things fashion so I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

I bought my second ever suit the other day. I kind of need more than one suit for work and I had a function to go to so I rushed out and bought one. My first suit was a success - I spent the day trawling up and down George Street in Edinburgh and eventually got a very well-fitting 100% wool suit from Moss Bros (I read on a website - probably this one - that 100% wool was the way to go, that's about all I knew/know).

So I ended up in an outlet store last week and found a really nice 100% wool suit for a good price. I tried on a 38 regular at first and it was too tight, the 40 chest size was perfect but the jacket looked too long on me. So I tried the 40 short jacket which looked great (I'm about 5'9" average build). Everything was fine until I got into the car and stretched my arms out to the steering wheel - the jacket sleeve rode up about a third of the way up my forearm. It looked ridiculous. Same thing when typing at work.

The thing is though... the sleeve length looks fine when I'm standing with my hands in my pockets or just by my side. Is this a common problem? If I went to a proper suit store would they be able to find me something that fit better - or is it a problem with my arm/torso ratio?! My first suit fits fine and doesn't have this problem - the sleeves ride up a little bit but nothing noticeable...

Help!

 

[acurrie7x]

So I've compared with my other suit today - and oddly the new one's cuffs appear to hang, if anything, slightly lower than my first suit. What I did notice though was that despite both being 40 S jackets, my first suit's sleeves seem to be more roomy whereas the new suit has tighter arms (seems to be the style of the suit - the trousers are quite tight-fitting also). Could this be the problem? And if so is it just down to varying styles?

Thanks.

 

[suitedcboy]

The currently fashionable slimmer cut suits with proportioned sleeves will do what you are experiencing more readily. In normal wear you likely will not move in a way that this will be a problem. If you were to wear this suit and be expected to point and speak with out stretched arm(s) then you probably want fuller cut suits. Even a fuller cut suit will likely have the coat sleeve ride up some when driving.

 

[GBR]

The problem lies in the larger armholes.

In order to ensure that the same basic block matches a range of different sizes these are made ever bigger. If you can only stick with RTW all you can do is look around for something with a smaller armhole like your first suit.