The Tailors' Thread: Fit Feedback and Alteration Suggestions

[dohare]

so steam, gotcha. yeah i order shirts from an MTM site, and while all are cotton, this one shrank significantly more than others...so idk what the cause was.

 

[cbfn]

I have been having trouble with my pants for the last six months or so; after intensifying my workouts and putting extra focus into bottom half strength, my pants' back rise has started to rise up into my behind. This resulted in me throwing away some of my now overly tight pants, but the ones I have which even has excess fabric around the thigh and hip area have lately been doing the sam thing. Having the pants sit lower on my waist does not remedy the problem. I have lately wondered if this is fixable or if I need to buy new pants. Basically, the problem quite equal to the figure A here (but not as bad as in the picture) - would it be possible to have it explained more in depth on what alterations must be done?

I have also attached some photos, and even thought there is no strictly NSFW with these, I would not recommend looking at them at work.

Spoiler: Avert thine eyes

 

[OTCtailor]

I have been having trouble with my pants for the last six months or so; after intensifying my workouts and putting extra focus into bottom half strength, my pants' back rise has started to rise up into my behind. This resulted in me throwing away some of my now overly tight pants, but the ones I have which even has excess fabric around the thigh and hip area have lately been doing the sam thing. Having the pants sit lower on my waist does not remedy the problem. I have lately wondered if this is fixable or if I need to buy new pants. Basically, the problem quite equal to the figure A here (but not as bad as in the picture) - would it be possible to have it explained more in depth on what alterations must be done?

I have also attached some photos, and even thought there is no strictly NSFW with these, I would not recommend looking at them at work.

They need to have the back fork released all the way from the top of the fork tapering down to the knee (back part of the inseam only). Taking in the seat only a little in conjunction with releasing the back fork should also help reduce excess fabric width wise.
That's about all you can do.

 

[AwfullyNiceGuy]

I do realize that this thread calls for pictures to identify a problem, but I hope that you will be so kind as to provide assistance anyhow: I am considering buying a coat on the interwebs, and therefore I do not have the luxury of trying on said coat beforehand.
Since I do not currently own a proper mens coat I was wondering how much ''bigger'' a coat should be compared to my jackets? Is there a general rule of thumb?

My biggest concern is that my jackets meaures approx. 18.5 inches between the shoulders, and the coat measures 20. I assume the waist/chest can more readily be altered like on a jacket?

 

[Membking]

The roll is from your square shoulders and not erect posture. If the shoulders, front and back, had been squared rather than squaring up the back shoulder only you would have benefited more. It would have helped clean up the slight bowing of the lapels over your chest and not changed the balance. At present the jacket looks like it has a short back/long front and lowering the back at the neck/collar many have contributed. Just a guess. It looks like she tapered the leg on only one seam, I think the inseam and not reduced the leg on both the inseam and outseam. When the leg clings and shows the shape/curve in your stance, it is too tapered IMO. Looks like you have a right high hip the way the trouser leg hangs. Cleaning up the diagonal line under the seat is about changing the front/back balance by lowering the back part at the top of the waist. Not always possible on a finished trouser.

Thanks a lot for the comments. Very helpful.

Before the jacket collar was shortened, it rest perfectly on the shirt collar without any collar gap. After I had my tailor shorten the jacket collar, however, I noticed a small gap between the shirt and jacket collar. I had to slightly pull my lapels forward to make the collars lie closely to each other, which probably created the "unbalanced" look you pointed out.

Does shortening the jacket collar usually create the collar gap problem? Would you suggest me to ask my tailor to re-do her job and fix the created collar gap?

Thanks again.

 

[OTCtailor]

Thanks a lot for the comments. Very helpful.

Before the jacket collar was shortened, it rest perfectly on the shirt collar without any collar gap. After I had my tailor shorten the jacket collar, however, I noticed a small gap between the shirt and jacket collar. I had to slightly pull my lapels forward to make the collars lie closely to each other, which probably created the "unbalanced" look you pointed out.

Does shortening the jacket collar usually create the collar gap problem? Would you suggest me to ask my tailor to re-do her job and fix the created collar gap?

Thanks again.

If the shoulders were squared at the backpart only, it will naturally shorten the back. That will caused the jacket to fall down in the back because it requires that extra length. This is where you're getting the unbalanced look and feel.
Properly squaring the shoulders from the front and back would not change the balance point. As Despos said before, that would've worked better BUT it's a major job that involves recutting the neckhole and possibly the collar as well. Not for most alterations tailors (even a big job for myself).
When there is a roll below the collar, it has to be carefully diagnosed. It could be too much incline for the posture or it could be the shoulders are too square but the incline is fine.
The problem with reversing what was already done is that there's a good chance the fabric was cut off at the top of the neck in order to square the back part of the shoulder. If it wasn't, it can be reversed but only your tailor would know that.

Side note: when thrifting or ebay'ing jackets, it's always wise to have a look at the back of the collar where the felt was attached (or ask the ebay seller) to see whether that stitching is done by machine or by hand or if the stitching isn't completely uniform all around. This is a good sign that the collar was either lowered or that the shoulder/s wear squared from the back part only.

 

[oolongtea]

Hey resident tailors,

I was hoping to get your assessment as to the 2 shirts attached, in particular:
- which one fits best between the two for future MTM orders (going to send one to Luxire to copy and adjust);
- based on which one fits best, how I can improve fit (e.g. adjusting more for forward shoulders, which is fairly evident in this case).

Thanks in advance!

 

[cbfn]



They need to have the back fork released all the way from the top of the fork tapering down to the knee (back part of the inseam only). Taking in the seat only a little in conjunction with releasing the back fork should also help reduce excess fabric width wise.
That's about all you can do.

Thank you! How would you describe this problem if I were to order MTM pants from the existing pattern?

 

[azwildcat]

Okay, here goes.

Two Signature Gold suits from Jos A Bank...bought separately on clearance for less than the tailoring.

The weird lighting/coloring is from photoshop...the pictures were very dark and so I had to lighten them substantially. The first suit is dark gray and the second is navy pinstripe.

Looking for help with all the problems (e.g., what's up with the backs of the sleeves?), but also specifically wondering: (a) should I have the pants tapered and/or lengthened?...I hate the way they rest on the shoes; and (b) are the sleeves too long?...to me they don't look obviously too long in these pics, but they look too long in the mirror and I'm wearing a dress shirt that I think fits in the sleeves and it's no where to be seen here.

Fire away. Thanks in advance.

 

[Despos]



I have been having trouble with my pants for the last six months or so; after intensifying my workouts and putting extra focus into bottom half strength, my pants' back rise has started to rise up into my behind. This resulted in me throwing away some of my now overly tight pants, but the ones I have which even has excess fabric around the thigh and hip area have lately been doing the sam thing. Having the pants sit lower on my waist does not remedy the problem. I have lately wondered if this is fixable or if I need to buy new pants. Basically, the problem quite equal to the figure A here (but not as bad as in the picture) - would it be possible to have it explained more in depth on what alterations must be done?

I have also attached some photos, and even thought there is no strictly NSFW with these, I would not recommend looking at them at work.

Spoiler: Avert thine eyes

Made a visual aid for you. You want to have the crotch let out but the seat curve made deeper also. The broken lines are the correction to make on the finished trouser.

If the crotch has no outlet, deepening/reshaping the seat curve may help enough. You can see from the arrows it makes the space wider from the crotch seam to the seat line. Making the curve deeper picks up and cleans out some of the wrinkles you see on the leg under the seat

 

[cbfn]

Excellent, highly appreciate your help.

 

[Clipper]

 

[ImTheGroom]

I just thrifted all of these. They were $10/suit, so I wasn't too picky about fit. What do you guys suggest?

Navy Pinstripe:



Solid Navy:


Solid Charcoal


Beige Sharkskin


Light Grey Overcoat


Double Breasted Dinner Suit





Steel Blue - I bought this one new in the fall. Because of some damage, the company is going to replace the vest with this suit. I am wearing the 36S. The 38S is half an inch longer. I'm between the two sizes, so I could get either. So, should I get them to replace it wiith the 36S or 38S?

 

[notwithit]

I figure this is a better question for this side of the board:

Is it reasonable and worthwhile to get a pair of chinos taken in at the waist if they have felled-seam construction? I just got these from United Stock Dry Goods, and they're amazing but one or two sizes too big.

I'm pretty sure I've only had pants with busted-seam construction altered in the past.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Also, now I kinda wanna find the matching jacket.

 

[OTCtailor]

ImTheGroom

First of all, congrats on thrifting all that great stuff!!

Most of the adjustments would be minor IF you weren't dealing with a rather erect posture and slight barrel chest. Because of this, the back balance on pretty much every garment pictured is too long and conversely the front balance is too short. Notice how the back falls down and seems to have excess drape? Also, all the single vent jackets split open because of this reason. The front of every jacket develops a more closed quarters because the fronts are inverting on the buttoning point. Shortening the back balance is relatively straight forward but it is still a bigger job. Lengthening the front balance will be impossible most times. Guess it depends what's in the shoulder seam.
To correct this problem moving forward, best to go MTM or bespoke.