[OrvalJephcot]

Has anyone here met resistance from a tailor on suit alterations?

I went to a new (to me) tailor near my home today. Older guy with some great yelp reviews — in fact, at least one reviewer compared him to one of the two better tailors I know of in town.

He expressed dismay when I asked him to take my jacket sleeve shorter and show a half inch of shirt cuff.

We went through two rounds of:

Him: “Like that??”
Me: “Shorter please. Half inch of shirt cuff.”

After it was a satisfactory length, he asked me to double check the length. I said something along the lines of “That looks great!”; but he then asked me to square up in front of the mirror and TRIPLE check it. I again expressed my satisfaction. And he muttered something about it being too short, but my jacket.

This can’t be a new development in fashion, can it??

 

[Kyle76]

Until recently, I was always of the opinion that 1/4-inch to 3/8-inch is the max for shirtsleeve reveal, but that guideline seems to be stretching in the past few years. I feel fine up to a half-inch now, and if you look at pictures from the entertainment world, some go more than that. Get what you want.

 

[OrvalJephcot]

Until recently, I was always of the opinion that 1/4-inch to 3/8-inch is the max for shirtsleeve reveal

Oh, no doubt that there's a range. Not arguing that at all. What I should've mentioned is that the first pass he took covered the shirt sleeve entirely. It looked as if I were a kid playing dress up with dad's suit.

 

[FLMike]

I know you’re talking about a suit, but I wonder, in the case of a casual blazer or sport coat, what happens if you decide to wear your jacket over a short-sleeve (polo/golf) shirt? You wouldn’t want your bare wrist showing, would you?

 

[OrvalJephcot]

I know you're talking about a suit, but I wonder, in the case of a casual blazer or sport coat, what happens if you decide to wear your jacket over a short-sleeve (polo/golf) shirt? You wouldn't want your bare wrist showing, would you?

That's a great point. It's also not something I've considered. I personally don't like wearing a jacket with anything other than a button up shirt, but I think it can be a smart look. I honestly don't know what I'd do in that case.

 

[Searching_Best_Fit]

His statement would be strange if your shirt cuff sits at the correct spot w.r.t. your wrist. What if your shirt cuff is already too short?

Some tailors insist to have longer sleeve cuff with their reasonings. However, you should specify what you prefer since you are wearing the clothes, not them.

 

[Searching_Best_Fit]

I know you're talking about a suit, but I wonder, in the case of a casual blazer or sport coat, what happens if you decide to wear your jacket over a short-sleeve (polo/golf) shirt? You wouldn't want your bare wrist showing, would you?

Wrist beads and bands come in rescue in this case. Also a big sporty watch would help.

 

[Matt S]

The classic range of showing shirt cuff can range from 0 to 1/2 inch. Yes, it is legitimate to match up the length of your jacket cuff with your shirt cuff, though I don't think it is ideal. Tailors have their own preferences, and they may think 1/2 inch is too much. There's nothing unusual going on here.

 

[Charles Dana]

Has anyone here met resistance from a tailor on suit alterations? He expressed dismay when I asked him to take my jacket sleeve shorter and show a half inch of shirt cuff.

We went through two rounds of:

Him: "Like that??"
Me: "Shorter please. Half inch of shirt cuff."

After it was a satisfactory length, he asked me to double check the length. I said something along the lines of "That looks great!"; but he then asked me to square up in front of the mirror and TRIPLE check it. I again expressed my satisfaction. And he muttered something about it being too short, but my jacket. This can't be a new development in fashion, can it??

There's resistance, and then there's resistance.

The tailor did not yell at you and chase you out of his shop. Rather, he cared enough to "ask" you to double-check and then triple-check the length of the sleeve. And ultimately he did what you wanted. I'd say your experience was no big deal. A little bit of pushback from a skilled, experienced craftsman is not unseemly. Your tailor is a human, not a robot. A little give-and-take with a good tradesperson, when it happens, won't hurt you; roll with it.

 

[paxonus]

I have had the same issue, and some of it was my own fault. The primary reason was that my shirt sleeves were not all hitting my wrist at the same spot--some were going long and hanging down onto the back of my hand. To correct the issue, I did a precise measure of my wrists. I then re-sewed the cuff buttons on one shirt to the location dictated by the measurements. After checking to make sure it was right, I went through all of my shirts and altered the buttons accordingly. Now, no matter what shirt I wear to the tailor, the amount of cuff showing will be the same. I usually go for between 1/4 to 3/8 max. I also make sure the tailor does each sleeve separately according to the amount of sleeve showing since the left will always need to be shorter than the right to get the cuff showing properly.

 

[Peak and Pine]

There's resistance, and then there's resistance..

I pressed LIKE for this. Twice.

 

[Flanderian]

There's resistance, and then there's resistance.

The tailor did not yell at you and chase you out of his shop. Rather, he cared enough to "ask" you to double-check and then triple-check the length of the sleeve. And ultimately he did what you wanted. I'd say your experience was no big deal. A little bit of pushback from a skilled, experienced craftsman is not unseemly. Your tailor is a human, not a robot. A little give-and-take with a good tradesperson, when it happens, won't hurt you; roll with it.

 

[Mr. B. Scott Robinson]

It is really important to wear a proper length/fit shirt to a sizing. My OTR shirts with varying cuts fit a bit differently and this is reflected in the cuff. One Paul Stuart shirt might show no cuff and a BB in the same size will show 3/8".

I had to learn this lesson myself.

Cheers,

BSR

 

[JBierly]

It is really important to wear a proper length/fit shirt to a sizing. My OTR shirts with varying cuts fit a bit differently and this is reflected in the cuff. One Paul Stuart shirt might show no cuff and a BB in the same size will show 3/8".

I had to learn this lesson myself.

Cheers,

BSR

Right. Having bespoke shirts solves that problem since they are all the same. I always wear a bespoke shirt to a final fitting on a jacket or suit. (Probably 2/3 of my shirts bespoke and they are consistent as one would hope and expect).

 

[JBierly]

Has anyone here met resistance from a tailor on suit alterations?

I went to a new (to me) tailor near my home today. Older guy with some great yelp reviews - in fact, at least one reviewer compared him to one of the two better tailors I know of in town.

He expressed dismay when I asked him to take my jacket sleeve shorter and show a half inch of shirt cuff.

We went through two rounds of:

Him: "Like that??"
Me: "Shorter please. Half inch of shirt cuff."

After it was a satisfactory length, he asked me to double check the length. I said something along the lines of "That looks great!"; but he then asked me to square up in front of the mirror and TRIPLE check it. I again expressed my satisfaction. And he muttered something about it being too short, but my jacket.

This can't be a new development in fashion, can it??

I think the new development is to go with a 1/2 inch. That is definitely on the long side of normal. My guess is the 1/4 to 3/8 is more the norm. Having said that, I think up to 1/2 inch is fine, but now it seems like with the ultrashort trend you are seeing more shirt cuff and sock than ever.

 

[SG_67]

It’s wise to consider that while 1/2 May look fine when standing still with one’s arms at the side, we rarely do this.

Rather, our arms are swinging when walking, when we sit the sleeves will naturally pull up a bit and when we are pointing out the direction of the best pizza in town to wandering tourists, so too then will the cuff of the jacket pull up, exposing far, far more than the initial 1/2.

I realize that a properly sized and tailored shirt will mitigate this to a certain degree, but how often have we seen the jacket sleeve riding so high as to expose the entire cuff.

 

[medhat]

Reminds me of one of my favorite sayings, "often wrong, never in doubt". To whom that applies to in this case is entire subjective (hint, I'm on your side). But people believe what they believe. While I don't fault the tailor for the "are you sure?" comments, as they don't want a customer coming back and complaining about an issue that the tailor felt strongly against (I'm positive that's not unusual), I do prefer someone for whom I can have a legitimate discussion, rather than a "this is what you think, and this is what I think" exchange of opinions. Makes me glad that I have the tailors I have.

 

[JBierly]

Reminds me of one of my favorite sayings, "often wrong, never in doubt". To whom that applies to in this case is entire subjective (hint, I'm on your side). But people believe what they believe. While I don't fault the tailor for the "are you sure?" comments, as they don't want a customer coming back and complaining about an issue that the tailor felt strongly against (I'm positive that's not unusual), I do prefer someone for whom I can have a legitimate discussion, rather than a "this is what you think, and this is what I think" exchange of opinions. Makes me glad that I have the tailors I have.

I think a good tailor will tell you what he thinks. But sometimes it is tough because the tailor wants to give you what you want and that may not align with what he thinks looks best. Once you have a good relationship it is easy to have more candor. As in that looks ok but I would suggest you do it this way for this reason. Hopefully if he or she knows what he/she is doing there will be a more satisfactory result. Stated another way, the customer is always right except when he is wrong...

 

[dks202]

Are you kidding Thom Browne?

 

[OrvalJephcot]

Are you kidding Thom Browne?

View attachment 23922

Not quite the look I had in mind.

Although it's arguably better than what I ended up receiving -- I'm now searching for a new tailor to see if the suit can be redone...