No matter how stylish or even expensive your suit is but if it doesn’t fit right and comfortably, you will still end up looking sloppy and unfashionable. On the other hand, even if your suit is simple and even bought on sale, you can look sleek and handsome if it has a right and comfortable fit.
Here are ways to achieve a snappy look without burning your pockets for an unreasonably expensive suit.
Consider the jacket length. It should extend past your buttocks though not long enough to make your legs look shorter than your torso. A rule of thumb when it comes to jacket lengths is to “keep the length of the jacket around the knuckles when your arms are hanging at your side.” But this rule doesn’t apply much on men with shorter arms.
For a proper-fitting suit, the shoulders on your suit jacket should not be wider than your own. The collar of the jacket should rest where the neck meets the upper back. It should stay securely in place even if the person is constantly moving. Lastly, it should remain flat across the back and the collarbone.
Buttoning your suit should not be a struggle. It should be comfortable enough for you to fasten the buttons easily without having to fidget about. But while they should be loose enough for you to button your suit easily, there should not be more than three inches of space between the suit and your chest.
A proper-fitting jacket creates an invisible X in the fabric with the button at the center of this X. The X should be subtle enough not to show pronounced at all because this is an indication that your suit is too small or tight for you.
The lapels should extend straight down the jacket and should not pull away from the suit at all. The back of the suit should be free of any horizontal creases. This is another sign that your suit is too small for your size.
The sleeves of your suit should reach past the wrist bone allowing for a quarter to half an inch of shirt cuff to show. The sleeve should not crease the upper arm. This means that the sleeve is too tight or you may have to extend the shoulders of the suit.
Proper-fitting pants should fall straight down without any wrinkles or creasing. If you’re wearing pleated pants, wear them around your natural waist which is just below your belly button. Flat-front pants are worn lower around your hips.
They should fit snugly around your leg down to your shoe where they should cover the top of the back of your shoe and break slightly over the top of the front of your shoe. Your socks should stay hidden under your pants.
Wearing a formal white jacket, a casual white jacket, a black suit, or any suit for that matter requires the perfect fit for you to move freely around your clothes and look elegant. Some men may not follow the basic rules down to the last dot, but as long as your suit fits right and comfortably, you will look sleek and handsome however simple your suit may be.
photo credit: raggio(ALL4HIM)productions