How Should Your Suit Should Fit

   As I look around at other people who wear suits there is one thing that I see wrong with almost all of them, and it is the way their suit fits them. Most of them are wear a jacket with a chest that is too big, their sleeves almost cover their hands, and they are almost stepping on the back of their pants.

   When it comes to men's clothing there is nothing more important than the way they fit. I have seen guys wearing cheap quality suits that fit perfectly and look much better than suits that are five times the price that don't fit. That can be said for almost any piece of clothing, be it for men or women, so how should that suit of yours fit?

  Let's start at the jacket, the thing people think of most when you say the word suit. There are a few things that you need to watch out for when shopping for a new jacket because some things can be altered by almost any alterations tailor and some that I wouldn't trust to the most skilled tailors in the world. So let's start at the easiest to alter and work our way up in difficulty, that being the sleeve length. Arguably the most common mistake I see in men wearing a suit is their sleeves are too long. They come down covering almost the entire top half of their hand and just looks sloppy. A good suit sleeve should stop just before your dress shirt's cuff ends, leaving about a half inch of it showing at the sleeve opening.

This is how a suit sleeve should fit

 Next let's talk about the jacket's fit in the torso area, this is the area around where it buttons. This is something that can be altered by a tailor to a certain level, but if to much is needed to be brought it, the proportions of the suit will be thrown off and will wind up looking terrible anyway. The way a suit should fit in this area is there should be a slight pull around the button on a two button suit. Not so tight it looks like it might pull the button off, just a little bit of a pull.

Notice the pull around the button

Now let's talk about the jacket chest and shoulder area, and this is the hardest part of the jacket to alter due to the padding and canvas lining of most jackets. When you go shopping for a new suit or sport coat this should be the one thing you make sure fits you perfectly otherwise you could spend a lot of money to get it fixed and it could end up looking wrinkled and sloppy.

The one on the left is a proper fit, right is a bad fit.

  Finally, on the jacket is its overall length. This one is easy to tell if it fits, but it is also something that can't really be changed. But all you need to do to see if the jacket is the right length is to put it on and put your hands down at your sides and make a kind of salute pose with your hand. The end of the jacket should be between where your thumb connects to your hand and the end of your thumb. Any shorter and the jacket is too short, and any longer the jacket is too long. Do watch out though because there are some "fashion forward," jackets that are built a bit shorter naturally. These should be something to avoid for your first few suits.

The bottom of the jacket is dead center of his thumb

The final part of the suit is the pants, and these aren't hard to mess up because they should fit like any other pair of men's pants. Starting off with the crotch area of the pants. It should be a bit higher not having a lot of extra fabric between your legs, doing so makes your legs look a lot shorter. Your waist should fit you so you don't need to wear a belt or suspenders to keep them up, if they do they are too big and should be sized down, however, a size bigger can be worn with a belt if you can't find a smaller size. Next, the biggest offense I see men make is the length of their suit pants. For a traditional fit, the pants should have a single break or crease along the top of the shoe. Any shorter you run the risk of it looking too small, too long you could actually end up stepping on the back of them and ruining them. 

Notice the higher crotch, single break, and waist that matches his natural waist size.

In short, the fit is everything when it comes to a suit. Fit can make or break your look, and should be perfect no matter how much you spend on your suit. The best part is if you take the time to make your suit fit perfectly it can actually look nicer and more expensive than a suit that is actually more expensive! So if your suit doesn't fit, take it to an alterations tailor and see what they can do for you. But if they need to do a lot of work to it, the smart choice may be just to get a new one. One little tip is to size down from the size you are measured at. An example is if you are measured at a 42R jacket try a 40R, maybe even a 38R and see how it fits. If you button the jacket and you hear fabric stretching then size back up, but chances are it will give you a more tailored look and will also save you money on alterations later.

Thanks for reading everyone, I hope this article was helpful and you now understand how a suit should fit. Have a good day everyone!