[Jeff84]

I'm getting a replacement suit tomorrow, to replace a navy suit I had previously purchased at MWH. I (regrettably) listened to the advice of a salesmen that I hadn't had before, and had the legs tapered.
The issue I am having, is that not only the seam on the back of the jacket, but also on the trousers towards the hem, there is puckering at the seams. I took the suit in twice, asking to let it out and even use thinner thread. It could be the tailor or the suit isn't very good. Two different dry cleaners (one of which a seamstress) couldn't get the puckering out.
Anyways, my first question is has anyone had a similar issue with tapered trousers always puckering?
My second question, with a slimmer suit and 12.5" shoes (size 10), what is the ideal leg opening?
Lastly, which of these two suits fits better in your opinion?
-The navy suit is a slim fit with 14.5" opening. The charcoal suit is a tailored modern fit with a 15.5" opening.

 

[Virtue Aesthetics]

15.5” is OK. But go with 16”, this is like the platonic ideal leg opening.
Your eyes will adjust to the silhouette. We need to get away from all this fixation on slim. To me 14.5” (the J Crew fit) only looks good with penny loafers or bit loafers and again only if I know I will not be sitting down very much (just awful for work!). I have a good 7 or 8 pairs of 14.5” dress pants or dress chinos, and in my experience with these there is always something unsatisfactory with the fit and the tailoring, so I give up! I know realize they look a bit boyish anyway (I’m a 27 year old Commercial Underwriter).

Oh and make sure they give you an adequate rise too, I say at least 11.5” on the front rise.

 

[momsdoc]

Is it my imagination, or has it been a long time since we’ve had a “How does this suit fit?” Thread?

To answer the OP:
That’s what you get for listening to a moron.

Neither suit fits. Both have jackets that are too tight and too short. Both have trousers with too low a rise.

The first is especially egrarious. If you cannot wear a French cuff, the sleeves are too tight. Those look very constricting. Do you not notice your tie showing below the button? The X at the waist, or that it appears if you straighten your arms the cuffs come down to the jacket hem? The trousers appear to leave no room for freedom of movement or sitting, and the cuff openings do not even fully cover the tongue of the shoe. The high Gorge and skinny lapels are just a consequence of the Unfortunatly marketed skinny suit.

The second suit also has the dreaded X with the tie even more exposed and the quarters flairing open. Again the length is so short that the jacket does not cover your groin and the hem would appear to end at your wrists. A better trouser cuff opening, but still not enough and too much break making for a sloppy look. If the trouser cuff openings were larger, the trouser cuffs would fall further along the vamp and then the full break would be mitigated to a mid break or at least look more balanced if they still made a full break. At least the thighs appear to have enough room.

I would never go below 16.5 for a cuff opening in a suit, and prefer 17” with mid break and size 10 shoes, with a 12.5 shoe you need even more. Casual trousers are different, and depending on the material and season I will go from 16-18.5 inches. If you wore no or little break a 16.5” opening would suffice and be modern/trendy looking. You’d like the cuff to hit about midway to 2/3 down the vamp, not at the top or above it. Again the gorge is high, though the lapels are adequate, not balanced and optimal, just adequate.

Are you a tall guy? The MWH modern fit is longer on me and I’M 5’9 1/2”. You should look toward the next length up in the modern fit, and let the waist out an inch, and burn the first suit. Going up a size in the chest would make the shoulders too large.

When standing relaxed with your arms down and the first button fastened, the button hole of the second button should drape over the lower button or it’s medial edge should touch upon the button’s medial edge. The fabric MUST overlap at the second button hole, curving apart at the quarters. A very fat King HAD to leave his bottom button undone, we do it just to follow that convention, not because there is not enough fabric to do so. You’re suffering from excessive waist suppression in the second suit, and a really, really poor choice in the first, which by design can fit only a truley oddly proportioned anorexic and still suffer the lapel and gorge issues.

 

[Charles Dana]

I agree with momsdoc's analysis. Further, I nominate the word he invented-- "egrarious"--as the first new word of 2019. A mash-up of "egregious" and "gregarious," it describes a person who has an obnoxious personality, yet likes to be around a lot of people. Politicians, used car salesmen, and stock brokers can be said to be "egrarious."

Let's get that word into the dictionary.

 

[Jeff84]

Is it my imagination, or has it been a long time since we've had a "How does this suit fit?" Thread?

To answer the OP:
That's what you get for listening to a moron.

Neither suit fits. Both have jackets that are too tight and too short. Both have trousers with too low a rise.

The first is especially egrarious. If you cannot wear a French cuff, the sleeves are too tight. Those look very constricting. Do you not notice your tie showing below the button? The X at the waist, or that it appears if you straighten your arms the cuffs come down to the jacket hem? The trousers appear to leave no room for freedom of movement or sitting, and the cuff openings do not even fully cover the tongue of the shoe. The high Gorge and skinny lapels are just a consequence of the Unfortunatly marketed skinny suit.

The second suit also has the dreaded X with the tie even more exposed and the quarters flairing open. Again the length is so short that the jacket does not cover your groin and the hem would appear to end at your wrists. A better trouser cuff opening, but still not enough and too much break making for a sloppy look. If the trouser cuff openings were larger, the trouser cuffs would fall further along the vamp and then the full break would be mitigated to a mid break or at least look more balanced if they still made a full break. At least the thighs appear to have enough room.

I would never go below 16.5 for a cuff opening in a suit, and prefer 17" with mid break and size 10 shoes, with a 12.5 shoe you need even more. Casual trousers are different, and depending on the material and season I will go from 16-18.5 inches. If you wore no or little break a 16.5" opening would suffice and be modern/trendy looking. You'd like the cuff to hit about midway to 2/3 down the vamp, not at the top or above it. Again the gorge is high, though the lapels are adequate, not balanced and optimal, just adequate.

Are you a tall guy? The MWH modern fit is longer on me and I'M 5'9 1/2". You should look toward the next length up in the modern fit, and let the waist out an inch, and burn the first suit. Going up a size in the chest would make the shoulders too large.

When standing relaxed with your arms down and the first button fastened, the button hole of the second button should drape over the lower button or it's medial edge should touch upon the button's medial edge. The fabric MUST overlap at the second button hole, curving apart at the quarters. A very fat King HAD to leave his bottom button undone, we do it just to follow that convention, not because there is not enough fabric to do so. You're suffering from excessive waist suppression in the second suit, and a really, really poor choice in the first, which by design can fit only a truley oddly proportioned anorexic and still suffer the lapel and gorge issues.

 

[Jeff84]

By next length up, do you mean instead of having a 38R go to a 38L in modern? You were right about the rise of the pants. I don't know why I never thought of it. Both of my suit pants have a rise of about 10 to 10 1/4 inches. Here is a better picture of the jacket with my arms relaxed. It is probably borderline in length. I called the MWH corporate Number to explain the situation. They are going to let me exchange the suit for a better fitting one or perhaps a different one altogether free of charge. What is the best thing to look forward to avoid getting the dreaded X?

 

[CLTesquire]

So I'm having a little trouble discerning navy from charcoal in your pics. My thoughts are that the trousers with the suit you're wearing with the pink tie are too slim in the leg. I prefer the trousers in the second picture.

As to the lapels and gorge, I would probably agree that the gorge is a bit high. You find that on modern suits. I don't have a big issue on the lapel width. You can't have them super wide on a size 38 suit because there simply isn't the room. How wide are they out of curiosity? Like ties, somewhere in the 3-3.5" range will always be acceptable.

The dreaded X is just from too much waist suppression. You can let out the suit a bit or just go with a fuller cut, which seems crazy to tell you because you're a thin guy.

I think I'm ok with the length of the jackets. I don't really pay attention to the length of a jacket in the context of ones arms because the first rule is that the length should generally cut your body in half and cover your seat. Arms are one of those things that hopefully it looks fine but people can have short or long arms so who knows. Maybe you could do with another half inch to one inch?

 

[DaveTrader]

It’s all in the tailoring my friend. Did you use the in-house tailor?

One thing tailors can’t fix, however, is the length of the jacket. Your entire hand practically extends below the jacket.

With your next suit, find a good tailor.

 

[Jeff84]

Thanks for your help gentlemen. I took all of your advice back to the store. I exchanged it for a modern fit, 16” leg opening, higher rise, no slimming of the sleeves and only a tiny bit of tinkering below the armpits. No more X either.
I have a weird Roger the Alien type of body going on, skinny fat so I’m in between a slim and modern.

 

[Jeff84]

I did use an in house tailor yes. Come to find out, it wasn’t the normal one, but a floater.

 

[SG_67]

I did use an in house tailor yes. Come to find out, it wasn't the normal one, but a floater.

Not good. Have scissors, will travel.

By the way, ignore "slim", "modern" and all other categories as most of these are little more than verbal gimmicks. Focus on fit. That's all that matters.

 

[Jeff84]

I get what you mean. I think I was just enticed by having a slimmer cut, that I didn’t focus on the ill fit. I tried on the “modern“ and was much happier.

 

[Mike Petrik]

I get what you mean. I think I was just enticed by having a slimmer cut, that I didn't focus on the ill fit. I tried on the "modern" and was much happier.

I'm not sure what you mean (or is meant) by "modern," but you would do well to listen to SG_67 and momsdoc. Classic stands the test of time for a reason.

 

[Jeff84]

I meant modern as in the name of the fit.

 

[TheBarbaron]

Guys, the "Modern" fit is MW's code for "normal". It's the less slim version.

While counterintuitive as a naming convention, it is the fit you're advocating.

 

[momsdoc]

^ Yes, I found that out when my son was working at MWH. I never did understand how they came up with that connotation. It’s the only fit in the Abboud custom I find suitable. But alas, he has come to his senses and left MWH to continue his education at Temple University. My discount may be gone, but his future career satisfaction and earning potential has increased immeasurably. A good trade off.

 

[Matt S]

Guys, the "Modern" fit is MW's code for "normal". It's the less slim version.

While counterintuitive as a naming convention, it is the fit you're advocating.

Nobody wants to sell/buy clothes that are called a "classic fit" or "traditional fit". Many places are now also using the name "tailored fit" to contrast "slim fit". Names are all bogus, but they do help sell suits (as we just witnessed).

 

[SG_67]

I’m not sure “fat b*****d” would fly off the shelves quite like those ad agency folks thought they would.

 

[eagle2250]

^^As a wearer of "classic fit" or traditional fit clothing, I fully and comfortably concur with the conclusion reflected by SG_67 in the post above. LOL.