Suit style for short, athletic type

[nom_de_guerre]

Hello,

I have just recently ended my college career and now that I'm going to wear a suit at work I would like to know if someone could help me with the overall suit style.

I'm not that tall (5'8''/175cm) and have spend a great deal of my college years performing in "muscle" sports. So I have pretty large thighs and wide shoulders.

What style would probably fit me the best?

 

[mensimageconsultant]

A picture would help.

Without one, the following advice probably helps.

Fine worsted fabric, of course solid dark and single-breasted
Relatively high gorge (where the collar meets the lapels)
2.5 buttons (or at least a high button stance)
Relatively short jacket (though it must keep the rear covered)
Besom (flapless) pockets
No cuffs
A good alterations tailor

 

[tiger02]

Nom de Guerre, I'm in a similar situation. Couple of things to add to the above--resist the urge to taper your jacket's waist mercilessly. You can afford to give it plenty of shape without constricting yourself and becoming visually unbalanced. Don't bother looking at the fashion brands, even the edgier ones like Costume National. They are made "slim," but that includes slim in the shoulders and in the thighs. One exception might be to contact forum member Get Smart and see if he can tweak a Thick as Thieves pattern for you.

Edit--sorry it took so long to reply. If I had seen your thread the first time around I would have said something.

Tom

 

[Despos]

Nom,
Spend some time in a mens store that has multiple suit lines and discover which makers and silhouettes come closest to fitting you. Your issue is your "drop" which is the difference between your chest and waist measurement.
This is where to start looking. While you are doing this ask the store's tailor a lot of questions of about what you should look for regarding fit and what the difference is between brands. If you find a cut that comes close to fitting, stick with it.
Silhouette is your first concern, styling second.

Fit your largest dimension, shoulders and chest, seat and thigh and have the other parts of the jacket or trouser reduced. See what type of feedback the tailor gives you regarding the outcome of the adjustments. If he is not optimistic consider MTM in your price range. If not with a maker of one of the stores you visit you can try a visiting tailor from HK. MTM will incorporate the adjustments when the garment is cut and come a lot closer to meeting your needs. You can find MTM at all price points except the lowest entry level suit pricing. MTM is more of a long term approach but will give you the best result as far as fit. If money is no object, find a tailor who makes his garments in house.
All this depends on what city and market you are in and what is available to you.
Good luck in your career.

 

[drizzt3117]

I'm not entirely sure that you're out of the R spectrum of suiting at 5'8" What are your shoulder/chest/waist/thigh measurements? It might make it easier to determine what might be appropriate.

 

[nom_de_guerre]

Thank you all for your inputs. They have been very informative.

Bespoke might be the better solution. Not that many bespoke taylors in my neighborhood though - so far as I know. I'm living in Denmark.

Probably going to London in the future, but I'm not sure I would be able to go back and forth for three or more sizings.

Is Hongkong bespoke quality okay. I have friends that have bought shirts and suits but in very differing quality.

My measures:

Neck 42 cm (16.5'')
Shoulders 125 cm (50'')
Chest 115 cm (45'')
Waist 90 cm (35'')
Hip 100 cm (39'')
Thigh 64 cm (25'')
Upper arm 42 cm (16.5'')

 

[drizzt3117]

Your measurements don't sound tremendously difficult to fit. They're almost the same as mine, but I'm 6'1, which means that you'd just take a regular jacket rather than a long. I've had success with Canali, Brioni, Oxxford, and RLPL (St. Andrews) in size 46L. I usually have to take in the waist quite a bit in the above. You may want to see if you can find something off the rack in these makers in 46R (do they make 46S?) because they'll be of higher quality than HK Bespoke in general. WW Chan is pretty good though, not sure how long they'd take to make a suit if you went to HK, though, and I'm not sure if they go to Europe.

 

[Jovan]

I have to disagree with MIC; don't get a high button stance. You should be getting a two button to lengthen your torso a bit since you're wide and short. Alternatively, if your office accepted it, you could even go for peaked lapels. That would help with height as well. Pleats are fine, but flat fronts make a clean line up the leg. You could also pull off hacking pockets pretty well with your body type.

As for fabric, just use common sense and make sure it's wool or cashmere and not a synthetic blended with either. Grey, charcoal or navy in solids should be the first colours to consider.

Good luck!

 

[mensimageconsultant]

In case the original poster is unaware, peaked lapels and hacking pockets don't sound acceptable on a junior employee.

 

[Jovan]

Alternatively, if your office accepted it, you could even go for peaked lapels.

Hacking pockets won't cause a fuss if they're only slanted a bit, like the first picture here. Anything more like the other two pictures is pushing it.

 

[Viktri]

Necro-post b/c I have some questions.

So I'm in a similar predicament.

Normally suits OTR that fit in the chest don't fit in the waist or shoulders (my shoulders are rather small at 17-17.5 inches - far off from the 18.25 I usually see)

5 ft 5
self measurements (so not flexed; I'm assuming thats how we take the measurements since I don't expect to be lifting weights or anything in a suit )
Neck: 15.5
Chest: 39
Shoulders: 34
Waist: 30
Thigh: 23
Arms: 13/13.5

Still cutting so waist should drop another 2-3 inches when I'm done. Just thinking about my options now; planning ahead for MTM in HK in the summer. Going to go for a slim suit with heavy waist suppression and tapered pants. No cuffs and no break. High arm holes. Probably some padding on the shoulders.

ATM I'm looking at a low gorge 2 button suit with flapless pockets @ 27.5-28 inches length (yeah I'm short). Going to be going for a grey since I don't have any in a Zegna or VBC? I'm not sure about the fabric yet but I'd prefer a good English fabric so I'm getting some recommendations from family. I've checked out the H&S site but I find it rather drab and complex so I'll check whatever my British folks tell me. Would appreciate suggestions here

Getting to my questions..

Originally Posted by mensimageconsultant

A picture would help.

Without one, the following advice probably helps.

Fine worsted fabric, of course solid dark and single-breasted
Relatively high gorge (where the collar meets the lapels)
2.5 buttons (or at least a high button stance)
Relatively short jacket (though it must keep the rear covered)
Besom (flapless) pockets
No cuffs
A good alterations tailor

Why do you recommend 2.5 buttons or a high button stance? I thought for athletic builds we're supposed to go for low gorge so it compliments our figures?

What is the justification for flapless? (I don't like flaps, so my justification is aesthetics but was wondering if there was a reason)

No cuffs - I agree.

I like lots of waist suppression.
http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/f...ad.php?t=63451
Like that and
http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/...from-back.html

I have wide shoulders for my frame, and I'm looking for this look:
http://www.399animeshop.com/sephiroth-poster.jpg


Any suggestions for things I should ask of my tailor?

I was originally going for Chan but my cousin used OM Tailors so I might try them (I also want to get an very slim overcoat done; it tends to make my shape stand out which gets lots of positive comments, but that will be for another thread).

 

[Philosoph]

^ You want a high gorge because you're short. But you do not want a high (i.e. 3-button) button stance. You probably want a 3-roll-2 or a modern 2B. I think it should button about halfway between your navel and sternum. This strikes a balance between increasing your verticality and balancing your upper body. Fairly open quarters also add to the vertical line in my opinion. I would also encourage you to get as little shoulder padding as possible. Your shoulders are already built up from heaving the iron around. Shoulder padding will make you look like you're wearing football pads under your suit (not a good thing). Trust me, it looks stupid.

 

[Surfrider]

Originally Posted by mensimageconsultant

peaked lapels and hacking pockets don't sound acceptable on a junior employee.
How so?