Opinions on fit through upper body.

[iammatt]

Nervously he posts some pictures of a jackets shoulder front and back...

[T4phage]

Fit looks nice. A question regarding the 'crease'' in the left shoulder: was the coat stored stored tightly against other clothes?

[DD MacDonald]

Iammatt, it's a wonderful looking jacket. Whose fabric?

If it were my jacket, I would consider having the shoulder shortened (dist from collar to end of shoulder along topline). I've never been a fan of the football shoulder on a hard jacket and too long a shoulder on a soft jacket becomes too droopy over time for my taste. Keep it natty and trim for me. However, the jacket is well balanced interms of back, shoulder and the chest is generous.

The lapels of the jacket are very nice - Do they have a slightly convex belly? The effect is elongating.

DDM

[AlexanderKabbaz]

Bit more ease on the left back than the right. Could be how you were standing. Not consequential.
Beautiful lapels ... but the left collar is kicking out a smidgen. Should be brought in.

Now the important stuff:
Shirt buttons appear to be plastic.
Either missing shirt collar stays or interlining insufficiently stiff.
Shirt fronts not cut to match. Notice small space between end of left center front and 1st stripe on right front. Stripe spacing should be equal. As the shirt is already made, this can be easily accomplished by moving the buttons about 3/16" without affecting fit too much.

Let me know if I'm right on the buttons. Always a challenge from a photo.

[iammatt]

Thanks Alex-

I was told that the buttons were MOP, and the feel cold against my tounge, but I cannot be sure.

You are definitely right about the stripe. I will have a tailor look at i. Usually it is covered by a tie. Interlining is probably too soft and stays are very flimsy.

Thands for the comment about the lapels. I am not sure that I understand what you mean about the collar, can you explair and suggest what sort of alteration is done for that.

Jan-

Thanks. I don't know exactly what the crease is from, but it is one of those things that sticks out in a particular picture but not really in real life.

DD-

I am not sure whose fabric it is. I picked it from a bolt sitting around rather than a book.

[AlexanderKabbaz]

I am not sure that I understand what you mean about the collar, can you explair and suggest what sort of alteration is done for that.

Just above the gorge seam on the left collar, notice how the collar is sitting a bit farther away from your neck than on the right. There is the slightest of 'almost a crease' about 3/4" above the gorge seam along the turn line.

As to how to fix it ... let's wait for one of the real experts to weigh in.

The last shirt button looks too white to be pearl ... but it could be the white balance of the photo. If they're cold ... they're shell.

[iammatt]

I am not sure that I understand what you mean about the collar, can you explair and suggest what sort of alteration is done for that.

Just above the gorge seam on the left collar, notice how the collar is sitting a bit farther away from your neck than on the right. There is the slightest of 'almost a crease' about 3/4" above the gorge seam along the turn line.

As to how to fix it ... let's wait for one of the real experts to weigh in.

The last shirt button looks too white to be pearl ... but it could be the white balance of the photo. If they're cold ... they're shell.[/code]

I'll be damned. Not only can I now see it, but when I touch the spot, there is a slight knot on the bottom side. I will probably start with a good press which I hope will get it out. If not, I'll take it to somebody local (shudder).

[TVD]

The jacket looks good to me.

Mr Kabbaz is probably right on the collar, however, I must admit that I find it near impossible to judge new clothes from a still. Movement is so important, and the slight creases and stretches that develop with use are needed to tell whether clothes really work or not. This is the problem of the tailor's puppet: everything can be made to look good on it. On a living, moving person it is a different story.

By the way, there is one absolutely surefire way to test whether the buttons are some form of MoP or plastic: heat. Unless you want to prick the back with a heated needle, iron your shirt at home. While the hot iron will not melt good plastic buttons, they will feel "sticky" as the iron slides over them. MoP will not cause any such friction (but be gentle, a metal iron can scratch MoP buttons, and a sharp cracked button might scratch teflon coated irons).

[alden]

In the future, and this advice holds for any readers who are thinking of posting pictures, it might be a good idea to post a complete view of the coat, from the back, front and side. Since one sees only half of the jacket, you are likely to get about half of the analysis and suggestions you seek.

This is a very handsome garment. If it were my own coat, the following comments with regards to fit would come to my mind. It appears the gaping out of the lapels is due to one of two factors (and possibly both at the same time): the neck point needs to be raised on the jacket, and the collar needs to be shortened.

With regards to the neck point, look at the line of the shoulder seam extending upwards from the sleevehead towards the neck and eventually intersecting the collar. Now imagine this line extending back of the existing line at a point about 2/3 of the way towards the collar. The line moves higher up the neck. The intersecting point of the new line at the collar will be higher than where it is now. I suspect ¼” on each side will do the trick. (This is an alteration that can be done easily.) By raising the neck point you will get the lapels to lie flatter and hug the neck a bit better. This is a fix. On the next jacket the tailor should change his pattern to reflect this change.

Would you be kind enough to measure the distance between the center seam intersecting point at the collar and the shoulder seam intersecting point at the collar (“the back neck measure”?) For someone of your build one will expect to see it at 3 inches. If the measure is greater than 3 inches then this change will have the affect of shortening the collar. The shortened collar will hug your neck more naturally and allow the coat to be suspended from the shoulders.

Remember that shortening the back neck and the collar also shortens the overall shoulder length so it is necessary to return the inches removed at the collar to the shoulder. So, to summarize, your tailor should cut a narrower collar and a wider shoulder. This should bring the collar into balance. The overall length of the shoulder on your coat looks good; the length just needs to be parceled between collar and shoulder length in a more convenient and balanced fashion.

The half of the back of the jacket one sees looks very good. It will look even better with the changes referenced above.

With regards to styling, the lapel’s roll seems a bit narrow, lacking in dimension and richness. Italian and especially Neapolitan tailors like to cut lapels this way while many SR cutters will prefer a more richly dimensioned roll. The lapels themselves are also inspired by Italian cutting ie they are quite straight. You might find a bit more belly an attractive option. Belly confers a good deal of character to the lapels. They are not so crisp and clinical. There is a bit of whimsy to them.

I am very glad to see you post these pictures and suggest that other readers do the same. The resulting commentary and dialogue will be helpful for the readers of the LL.

[Connemara]

I think everyone's covered the bases so far, but I would like to add that the pattern matching on the back of the coat looks flawless. That fabric is really beautiful, too. Is it Scabal?

[iammatt]

Everybody-

Thank you for the comments. I agree with Alden that it is really helpful both to the poster and to the board to post these kinds of pictures. As I said in my original post, I placed them on the site with some trepidation. It is nice to know that you can ask questions and neither get answers like "you look great, don't worry about it", not "you are too tis or that for your jacket". I feel like I gained a lot from the answers.

Thanks.

BTW, TVD I took the test and they are in fact MOP buttons. My wife walked in on me running my buttons over a hot iron and is considering having me committed.