- 7 weeks ago
Suiting up can be tricky, but master tailor Ian Meiers has got you covered. GQ breaks down 16 of the most common suit mistakes—from the wrong sleeve length to an overly fitted shirt—and how to fix them.Filmed on location at cadandthedandy.com
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00:00These suits don't fit and if you own a suit there's a good chance that yours doesn't either.
00:05You could have a collar gap, shoulders breaking down, a jacket out of balance, the wrong trouser
00:10rise and lots more issues that the average person never even thinks about. I'm Ian Myers owner of
00:16the UK's largest bespoke tailor and I'm about to show you the most common suit problems,
00:20what causes them and how to fix them. Let's start with the jacket.
00:26Shoulders breaking down. Here you see diagonal lines, creases across the upper back of the shoulder.
00:33If you have diagonal lines like these that's because the jacket hasn't been cut to your shoulder
00:37shape. Ideally you should have a clear back with no creasing on it at all. While some people have
00:42perfectly balanced and symmetrical shoulders, the vast majority of us don't. Over 50% of people will
00:48have what a tailor calls a drop right shoulder which means their right shoulder is lower than their left.
00:52This is because most people are right-handed and over time the extra burden and strain will cause
00:57the right shoulder to come and sit lower. If both shoulders are dropped you have what we call slope
01:02shoulders. So a jacket's shoulders are cut for the average person which means the jacket would have a
01:07slight slope to it but if you have a shoulder that's lower on one side or the other it means that the
01:12jacket will actually break down because it's designed to sit up here but it's sitting on shoulders that
01:16sit slightly lower. To fix this the angle of the shoulders needs to be lowered and the armhole needs to be
01:22brought down with it to fit to the body correctly. A good tailor will actually go a step beyond that.
01:26They won't just be looking at the angle of the shoulders at the ends they'll be looking at the
01:30top of the shoulders which is what we call the neck point. Sometimes people have one neck point that
01:35is lower than the other. What you'll find in this case is the whole panel of the jacket will follow
01:40the neck point and the whole jacket will sit a little lower on one side than the other. When this happens
01:44you'll find that the button isn't aligned to the buttonhole so when you do the two up it will throw one of the
01:49lapels off because you're moving the lapel up and it will cause it to bow on one side. The best way to
01:54fix it is to actually pick up the cloth and move it into the neck point at the top. This will realign
01:59the button and the buttonhole meaning that the jacket at the bottom sits cleanly but also both lapels
02:04will sit cleanly to the chest. Collar roll. Here we see a rucking, a creasing across the top of the
02:11shoulders underneath the collar. The opposite of sloped shoulders is what we call square shoulders. This is
02:16where the shoulders are high on both sides compared to the average person. If you have square shoulders
02:21it lifts the jacket at either end and causes a rucking and tension underneath the collar. Again
02:26in an ideal world the back of the jacket should be clean with minimal to no creasing. To fix it you
02:31need to see a tailor who will take the cloth and pass it up into the collar to give a clean finish to the
02:36back of the jacket. Popping around the chest. Here you can see the jacket lapels bowing and lifting off of
02:43the chest. This is typically caused by a jacket being too small in this area and what you need
02:47is a jacket with more room across here that will sit over the front of the edge and stop the lapels
02:52from lifting. Another issue that will cause the lapels to bow is what we call a prominent chest.
02:57When you have a prominent chest it's lifting the jacket and it's opening it here causing a pressure,
03:02an upward pressure on the jacket which causes the lapels to bow. Ideally the chest should hug the body
03:07without being too tight or too loose to maximize the shape through the body. The chest area is one of the
03:12most difficult parts of the suit to alter because there's no inlay, there's no cloth there to let
03:16out. Because of this it's essential you get the chest to fit correctly when you buy a suit. I
03:20recommend buying the jacket based on the fit of the chest and then having a tailor take in the
03:25waist to get the shape that you want. Collar gap. What we're seeing here is a space between the neck
03:30and the collar. In a well fitting jacket the collar will always sit and rest on the neck. A collar gap
03:36will often appear because of a person's posture. For some people their head sits forward and that
03:41creates a gap between the neck and the collar. A more extreme version of this is what we call
03:46a round back. But before we jump into that let's talk about balance. A well fitting jacket will always
03:51be in balance and this means that the bottom of the jackets hang parallel with the floor,
03:55the fronts of the jacket gently open at the quarters which is the bottom of the jacket and the
03:59back of the jacket will sit cleanly. Your posture will have a significant impact on the balance of your
04:04jacket. Some people have a round back and that will cause the entire jacket to move. It will cause the
04:10fronts to go lower and the back of the jacket to kick up. The fronts of the jacket start to kick open
04:15like a pair of scissors situated from the bottom down and the back of the jacket will start to pull
04:20at the top which causes a wavering at the bottom of the jacket. If you have an erect posture the exact
04:25opposite happens where the fronts of the jacket will start to lift up and the fronts will close like
04:29a pair of scissors. To fix these issues lots of people will start looking at the bottom of the jacket and
04:34try to treat it locally but the root cause of it is at the top of the jacket and it has to be fixed from here.
04:39For a round back you have to give what a tailor would call extra back balance that means more
04:44length over the back of the jacket and then you have to pick up and straighten the fronts. For an
04:48erect posture you have to do the opposite you have to reduce the back balance which means shorten the
04:53back panel at the top and put extra length over the front. When someone has a head forward this is
04:58a more minor version of a round back where we put extra through the back and then we'll nip and take in
05:02the collar but you typically won't adjust the fronts. If you have one of these issues and you want your jacket to fit
05:07you need to be aware that ready to wear might not be the right option for you. The cost of altering
05:11a ready to wear suit will be substantial and in many cases not even possible. You may be better
05:16making the investment and seeing a good tailor who can take care of this for you. Wrong sleeve length.
05:22On this jacket we can see that the sleeves are far too short. The correct sleeve length is a super
05:26important detail that people will notice even if they don't know what they're looking for. Cut them too
05:31short and you'll have your shirt cuff flying out the end of the sleeve. However if you cut them too long
05:36it will start swallowing up the hand. The correct sleeve length should come down to the back of the
05:40wrist but allow a quarter to half inch of shirt cuff to show. The shirt showing offers a little
05:45peacocking while showing that your jacket and shirts have been perfectly tailored. To get the shirt sleeve
05:50length to sit correctly it's not just the shirt length that's important it's also the size of the cuff.
05:54If the cuff's too big it's going to sit down the back of the hand and if it's too small it's going to sit
05:59too high up. You need it sitting with the correct width which is about two and a half inches bigger than the wrist.
06:05Armhole too low. Here we're looking at the height of the armhole which refers to the amount of space
06:10between the body and the jacket armhole. The height of the armhole is absolutely crucial in a suit
06:15for both movement and shape. You'll often see that ready-to-wear garments have low armholes.
06:20This is because it offers more room and more comfort and will fit more people. However it creates a wing
06:25of fabric underneath the jacket so when the arms lifted up the entire jacket moves with it so you
06:31actually get less movement and less comfort with it. It also shortens the run from the bottom of
06:35the armhole down to the waist which greatly reduces the shape of the jacket. This is a crucial area of
06:40the jacket where we want to maximize the run from the armhole down to the waist to create a masculine
06:45silhouette from broad shoulders down to a slender waist. The ideal armhole height depends on the person
06:51and depends on how the tailor likes to cut it but in general it's just over an inch of space that's needed
06:55there. Back of the sleeves breaking down. Here we see a bunch of creases sitting at the back of the
07:02sleeve. You've probably never needed to think about how someone's arms hang but a good tailor will be
07:06looking for this. If you look at the average person the front of their sleeve would typically hang around
07:11the middle of the pocket but some people's arms will naturally hang further forwards or further
07:16backwards. When someone's arm hangs backwards it's pushing against the back of the sleeve which creates
07:20a tension and a creasing. To fix it the whole of the sleeve needs to be rotated backwards. When you
07:25do this the sleeve then hangs in unison with the person's arm and the sleeve hangs cleanly.
07:31Creasing on the waist. Here we see horizontal lines and creases across the front of the jacket.
07:36This means that the area around the waist is too tight. On the other hand if the area around the waist
07:41is too big the jacket begins to look boxy. A well fitted jacket would have the waist sitting just on
07:47the body without pulling or catching. We want to give the appearance of a broad shoulders going down to
07:52a slender waist. Lots of people come into my tailoring store asking to look like James Bond and this the
07:58wasting on the jacket is one of the key elements for us to deliver that. Some people have a physique
08:03that makes it easy for us to build shape in a jacket but a good tailor will be able to create shape for
08:07anyone. The seat showing. The seat is another way of saying someone's rear end and what we're seeing here
08:14is too much of it. In this case the suit jacket has been cut too short. When this happens on the front you can
08:20also see the customer's crotch. And if you think the seat showing is bad I can promise you showing
08:24the crotch is even worse. On the other hand if you cut the jacket too long it's going to swallow
08:29the legs up and make the body look too long. The length of the jacket is crucial for getting the
08:33proportions of the jacket right. There are lots of loose rules that people will follow to determine
08:38the length of the jacket whether it's cupping your hands or going to your thumb or being halfway from
08:42the shoulder point down to the floor but there's nothing better than standing back and looking at how
08:47that jacket sits on that individual. This is one where there's no steadfast rule and it really
08:52depends on personal preferences. Now let's move on to the trousers. Low cut trousers. Here we're seeing
08:59the waist of the trousers sitting low on the hips. The height of the trouser can really impact the level
09:04of formality and how well it flatters a person's body. The area between the trouser waistband and the
09:10crotch is known as the rise. When the rise is cut too low it makes the customer's leg look shorter
09:15and doesn't pair well with a jacket. A low rise works better on things like jeans that are intentionally
09:20casual and typically not paired with the jacket. More often than not we recommend going with a
09:25higher waisted trouser. A higher waisted trouser gives the illusion of a longer leg and a shorter
09:30body which looks more elegant. Now I'm not suggesting that you dress like Simon Cowell with your trousers
09:35up to your chest but having the trouser waistband sit at the hip bone tends to work well for most people.
09:40It also creates a seamless silhouette with the jacket and also gives you room to tuck in your shirt which is
09:45what you'll want to do with a suit or formal trousers. There is no real fix for this. You can't
09:50make the trouser rise higher so you need to go to a company that cuts them a little higher in the first
09:55place. Gaping pockets. Here we see the pockets bowing gaping at the side of the trousers. The biggest
10:02cause of this is the trousers being too tight around the seat or that the trouser cut doesn't work for your
10:07body shape. When the trousers are too tight the cloth around the seat pulls and causes the pockets to bow
10:12open. You'll typically see lines or creases across the front and the back of the trousers which is a
10:17telltale sign that the trousers are too tight. A trouser should sit clean across the front and the back
10:23without any pulling which will allow the pockets to sit cleanly through the sides. To fix this you
10:27could let the trousers out at the side seam or the back if the trousers have some inlay in there. This
10:32will create more room in the trouser which will stop it from pulling and allow the pockets and the rest of the
10:36trouser to sit cleanly. Otherwise the other option is to buy a bigger size trouser and then take the waist down.
10:43Funching up at the bottom of the legs. Here we can see an excess of cloth sitting on top of the shoe.
10:49This is due to the trousers being too long. On the other hand if the trousers are cut too short they can start riding up while
10:55you're walking. Trouser length is very much a personal preference but a classic length would be to have a single break on the front
11:00which means a small fold on the front and straight on the back. This makes the trouser look clean and avoids
11:06excess cloth catching and breaking at the shoe. You can achieve this look by cutting what we call a military
11:11hem where the front of the trousers is a little bit shorter than the back. Alternatively a lot of people
11:16will cut their trousers purposely shorter to give a cleaner look but ultimately it comes down to personal
11:21preference. Back of trousers breaking down. What we see here are folds and creases at the back of the thigh.
11:29This is due to what us tailors call a flat seat. This is where someone has a small and low seat
11:34causing the back of the trousers to break down. Ideally you want a clean run from the seat down
11:39to the knee and the bottom of the trouser. This area is important because if you're not wearing your jacket
11:44people are going to see the back of your trousers and they're going to see the silhouette of your trousers
11:48isn't hanging properly. This is quite a big job to fix because you have to open up the back of the
11:53waistband. You have to push the cloth up into the waistband and often that will cause the trouser to ride
11:58up into the customer's seat so you also have to open up what we call the fork which is the top of
12:02the thigh and give more room through there and that will get you a clean shape through the trouser.
12:07Finally let's break down the dress shirt. Collar fits the shirt doesn't. Although the collar fits
12:13the neck well the rest of the shirt doesn't fit the body. Traditionally when you buy a shirt off the rack
12:18you're basing the purchase on the size of the collar. As it's assumed as the neck gets bigger the body
12:24will get bigger with it. However what fits your neck might not fit your body. For example I have a
12:29colleague that's far shorter than me but has a bigger neck than me. Technically he'd be buying a
12:33shirt off the rack that is bigger than one that I'd wear. Ideally you want a shirt that fits the collar
12:38the body and your sleeve length. So when buying a ready to wear shirt it's a balance to get those three
12:42points right. If you're planning to wear a tie with your shirt which means you're going to do the collar up
12:47I'd recommend buying the shirt based on the collar size and sleeve length and then having to tailor adjust
12:51the body to fit your shape. But if you're not planning on doing the collar up you have more
12:55flexibility to buy a shirt that fits the body correctly. Overly fitted shirt. Here we're seeing
13:01pulling a creasing across the front of the shirt and the buttons being strained. This happens when
13:06the shirt is too small and glued to the body. Because the shirt is either the same size of the body or
13:11in some instances even smaller than the body the body is pushing open the shirt which causes the
13:16creases and the tension across the front. Ideally you need a little space through the chest as this
13:20would allow the shirt to hang cleanly without any pulling. If you're having an issue with this
13:24my recommendation is to buy a shirt with a bigger chest size and have a tailor bring the waist in.
13:29It's also important to understand the principle of grading. This is where a tailor will take a medium
13:33size and calculate the proportions for the bigger and smaller sizes from it. The reason it's useful to
13:39understand grading that as the collar size gets bigger the body, the armhole, the sleeve length,
13:44and the shirt length all get bigger with it. My advice is that when buying a shirt you find a balance
13:49between all these things. Shoulder seams too wide. Here we can see the shoulder seam which is where
13:55the sleeve and the body meet sitting off the edge of the person's shoulder. When this happens the
13:59shirt starts to look sloppy like it doesn't fit you. This is due to the shoulder width of the shirt
14:04not matching your frame. Ideally you want the shoulder seam to sit perfectly at the edge of the
14:09shoulder. When it does this it shows that the shirt fits and it gives a much cleaner aesthetic. To fix this
14:14it would take the tailor a long time to alter it and it's going to be expensive so you're better off buying the
14:18shirt correct in the first place. Suits are a very personal thing and what works for one person might
14:23not work for another. However as long as you know what you're looking out for a great looking suit
14:28can certainly be within reach.
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