How a Suit Should Actually Fit

How a Suit Should Actually Fit

Most off-the-rack suits fit wrong in three places. Get these right and the rest is window dressing.

1. The shoulders

The shoulder seam should sit exactly at the bony edge of your shoulder. Not an inch past, not pulled in. If the shoulder is wrong, no tailor can fix it without rebuilding the jacket.

• Look at yourself in the mirror, arms at your sides.
• The seam should be a clean line, no divots, no overhang.
• If the jacket pulls horizontally across the back when you button it, the shoulders are too narrow.

2. The sleeves

Half an inch of shirt cuff should show past your jacket sleeve. Not three quarters of an inch. Not flush. Half an inch.

• Stand with your arms relaxed at your sides.
• The jacket sleeve should hit at the base of your thumb where it meets your wrist.
• Sleeves are easy to alter. Don't reject a jacket with otherwise-good fit because the sleeves are long.

3. The trouser break

The "break" is how the trouser fabric folds at the shoe. Three options:

• No break: trouser hem just kisses the top of the shoe. Modern, sharp.
• Quarter break: a single soft fold above the shoe. Most flattering for most builds.
• Full break: trouser bunches over the shoe. Old-fashioned, mostly avoid.

The other stuff

• Top button hits at or just above the navel.
• Jacket length: with arms at sides, you can cup the hem in your palm.
• Trousers: should suspend at the waist, not the hips. If you need a belt to hold them up, they don't fit.

A $300 suit that fits beats a $3,000 suit that doesn't.