He seems to have a pear shape. If not, the jacket is gifting him with one. Poor fellow.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

That'll never end well. How he can't see that for himself is most strange.

 

It's not a good fit. Hard to believe that this is bespoke! He's choosing this!

 

I never usually comment on fit threads but that one's a corker! Poor fellow.

 

Talk about poorly disguised passive aggression? It seems to me that the poor bloke's tailor really hates him! The sartorial bile showcased in the OP's picture has just got to be an intentional act...there is no other explanation.

 

Can we really blame the tailor? If someone knows the backstory I'd love to hear it but if this is what the customer wants, then that's what he gets.

However, if I'm the tailor and have done my due diligence to talk him out of it, and failed, I doubt I'd post this as an example of my fine work. Best leave this one in the books.

 

Can we really blame the tailor? If someone knows the backstory I'd love to hear it but if this is what the customer wants, then that's what he gets.

However, if I'm the tailor and have done my due diligence to talk him out of it, and failed, I doubt I'd post this as an example of my fine work. Best leave this one in the books.

I find it hard to believe that a really good tailor would ever consent to making such an ill-fitting, boy-sized jacket. On the other hand, he who pays the piper...

 

That is a horrible looking jacket, What's with the stitching all around it?

 

^It is still in the fitting stage and so the basting is still evident.

Which brings up a good point; is it too late to make the necessary changes or has the die been cast?

 

This post has just helped me decide against being fitted in London next week for a jacket by Bookster at the Holland and Sherry store front on Savile Row. I do not wish to take a chance on receiving an ill fitting garment for which I paid dearly then received by post several weeks later with no recourse to have alterations made in person.
(besides-- I fit the mold of the "not so slender" chap who is the focus of this original post)

 

This post has just helped me decide against being fitted in London next week for a jacket by Bookster at the Holland and Sherry store front on Savile Row.

Just a little note... Make sure you have the jacket in hand before giving any money to Bookster.

 

This appears to be a French tailor. Is your comment @fishertw a general one about MTM or does Bookster figure in this some way.

I am afraid I too am of a similar shape and need all the help my tailor can muster.

 

Not a specific comment about Bookster, although some on this forum seem to think Bookster is a bit "iffy" ( you can look at other posts for those comments.)
My concern is that I'll not be in London long enough to have a second fitting and would be receiving the garment via mail (back in the states) several weeks after the visit to England. Given that I'd likely be spending $1000 or more thats just a risk I can do without. I may look for a garment off the peg in London to purchase and maybe have it shipped back as I did in Edinburgh at Stewart Christie and Sons several years ago with a shooting jacket. Starting from scratch seems a bit of a long shot and I do not want to spend that much with no solid guarantee of success.

 

Have you seen the inside of the jacket?

 

Have you seen the inside of the jacket?

Wow, that's quite interesting.

 

It could be worse.

It appears that "London Fashion Week" is on.

 

Considering that the man is wearing ultra-low-rise trousers, I suspect that the jacket ended up this way because of the customer and not the tailor. The man's shape is not a difficult one to fit or flatter, but I think this is a man who just wants to be fashionable without caring how he looks.

The length is too short by only about 1 inch, though the button stance needs to move down about 2 inches. Even considering the current length, the pockets are too high. The short length and high button stance will make any man look pear-shaped, but the narrow shoulders contribute even more to that.

 

I think we largely agree.

The one point of difference may be instructive; while I'll happily amend my recommendation for 3" of added jacket length, I'd still add at least two. And my reason is that, IMO, there is not a universal ideal for jacket length, and that different bodies require jackets that are longer or shorter in proportion to their bodies based upon body type. Simply put, the ideal jacket for a heavier man has to fall lower on the body than what would be ideal for someone who isn't.

I've always found that to be true, and was gratified when I believe Paul Winston may have made the same observation during a discussion.

 

At the risk of revealing myself as a true horse's ass, I'm not sure that any man who would wear a suit in public which looks and fits as if he borrowed it from his younger brother, or his adolescent son, merits a great deal of sympathy.

 

Whether or not he deserves sympathy depends on if the awful suit was the customer's choice or what the tailor stuck him with. I would sooner put the blame on the customer, and thus he wouldn't deserve any sympathy.

 

Mom said, decades ago, that the rich can buy the extreme of fashions, because they can chuck it a few days later. Sometimes fashions are not about the overall look but the extreme details of the fashion itself. Got to understand where the fun is and isn't, therefore, the purpose of the garment. And, you never tell the rich how to spend their money. This is all business talk and has nothing to do of good looks. Although, some tailors can stretch the imagination, breaking many rules and, coming out with something looking good, though, not practical (because the garment are not for practical). It is called being in the spirit of the high fashion. There are different mind sets with clothing. Any tailor who makes these fashion clothes ask many questions. Many tailors won't touch this stuff, and some who do, shouldn't. Some tailors like making the garments because of the challenge. Others need the pay.

I judge according to how well it was done. Not to what I like. Somethings I don't want to know about, and I sit those out. There are many kinds of art I don't pay attention to. Lots of paintings, ceramics, sculptures, clothing, music, food, etc., which are art, don't interest me. The picture above is not finished. Is it ringing the merit bells of the fashion that it is competing in? IDK, and don't care. Will be glad when this fashion craze is gone.

 

Aren't we being just a bit severe, gentlemen?

Our hero is a victim of his figure and current fashion. We all know how hard it is to loose weight but does anyone know where to get a classic tailored suit or jacket these days?

 

I haven't had any trouble getting what I want from my local men's store and Coppley MTM.

All you have to do is summon up the courage to say "Bugger current fashion. It looks ridiculous and I won't wear it."

Many don't seem to be able to do that.

 

I think some of us here are being too cruel on the man for his figure. He really doesn't look that heavy or difficult to tailor.

 

Seeing the photo from the fitting reminded me of the last time I tried on a "spalla camicia" suit jacket with no extension to the shoulders. It gave me the same pear shaped look as the jacket featured by the OP. Needless to say, I did not buy the garment. I can look fat on my own time and on my own dime - I don't need a tailor to assist me in these matters.

 

Even with a neapolitan jacket you can sometimes find jackets that have "con rollino" that will exaggerate the shoulder a bit. Nonetheless, some body types just look best with the shoulder built up a bit.

 

...to add, looking at the tailor's Tumblr, the 'house style' is indeed one of high button stance and very open quarters (at least for their 2b jackets) so maybe this is entirely consistent with their esthetic. In that case, caveat emptor.

 

Reminiscent of Angus Young in his schoolboy suit... ridiculous.

There must come a time in a man's life where maturity allows him to eschew "fashion" and "current trends" and wear what truly compliments him. The basic design of men's suits has not changed in over a hundred years. Things get shorter, longer, wider, narrower, tighter, and looser all the time; choose what looks best for yourself based on age, station, body type, employment, and environment, and stick with it.

Enjoy experimenting with trendy fashion when you're young (we all did to one degree or another); but by the time thirty-something rolls around, one should have a good understanding of what works for him regarding the brief criteria mentioned above. Otherwise, the true fashionistas and trend-setters will spot you a mile away: the sad, hopeless poser wearing his mid-life crisis on his back.

 

Anyone who would have his jacket lined with a Jonathan Livingston Seagull theme deserves whatever cruel mockery and ridicule can be directed his way.

This reminds me of a story told me by Jack Lewis, the founder of Gun World magazine (which I later edited for 11 1/2 years). Among the other publications owned by Lewis at one time (this would have been back in the 1970s) was Private Pilot. He began publishing a column on meditations on flying featuring a bird. After about three columns Jack grew weary of it: "Hell," he growled at the author (he always growled), "I'm publishing an aviation magazine, not a bird magazine." The author accepted graciously and asked if he could have the rights to the first three columns. Jack readily assented, and so he gave away Jonathan Livingston Seagull...not one of his better business decisions.

My uncle, God rest his soul, once described Jonathan as "the second worst piece of $*** published in the 20th century," the worst being The Prophet by Khalil Gibran.

 

The strange thing about the world of clothing is that it really seems to attract much higher than average levels of thoroughly obnoxious and vapid, superficial snobbery that just about any other hobby.

I am firmly of the belief that mocking and ridiculing someone for how they dress, let alone the lining of their garments is really the mark of a thoroughly unpleasant human being.

Sounds like you've got my number pretty well!

I'm not familiar with the book in question but perhaps it has some meaning to the man and frankly, who are we to judge his taste?

The book was sententious, sentimental dreck. Any man or woman with even a modicum of taste and sophistication would surely concur.

The fit of the jacket in question is not great but those casting withering scorn would do well to remember the words of Cary Grant on the topic.

Don't be a snob about the way you dress. Snobbery is only a point in time. Be tolerant and helpful to the other fellow-he is yourself yesterday.

Given some of things I wore in the '70s, Cary may have a point there.

 

Well ..... we snobs will surely change our thinking and our behavior after that excoriating blivet.

 

The closer you get to either end of the curve, the more difficult it is to look good.