Shortening a "Long" Jacket?

[Doug]

I became a bespoke customer somewhat from necessity, since I have a fairly broad chest, narrow waist, and slightly broad hips. Standard coats will for me always be too long. I was a bespoke customer for a long time before I had a coat shortened for the first time.

I will have a coat shortened only in the following very particular circumstances, and agree with earlier comments that it would not be worth it when buying standard RTW.

1. Bespoke coats made for me after I lost weight. Weight loss will make a coat hang longer.
2. When I can get hold of a jacket or suit from one of the world's top tailors, which I have been able to do from time to time. I'm talking here about buying classic pieces from A&S, Kilgour, etc., sometimes 40 years old, which to me have special value (see below). Otherwise it is only worthwhile if, say, you are buyiing Kiton or RLPL suits or jackets for a few hundred dollars.
3. The operation works more or less well depending upon the button placement. If the jacket buttons properly at my natural waist, the lower buttons and pockets will probably also be well located, and shortening the jacket by1-2 inches will not throw the jacket off by enough to spoil things. This is more likely, per my comments above, where the former owner had more girth than me. If the jacket buttons at the natural waist and is otherwise well cut/altered it should be reasonably comfortable. Pockets, particularly if they are besom, are not too awkward if they are 1-2 inches lower than they should be, although to a perceptive eye it is noticeable and it is always a matter of taste and personal tolerance. On an old bespoke item, alterations that advertise that the wearer is not the original owner can give the garment a bit of idiosyncratic charm. Sons often have fathers' and grandfathers' bespoke items altered to fit them.
4. The operation must be done by a highly skilled tailor, and can be costly.

The point has been made many times that it takes a number of efforts with a bespoke tailor, usually, before you can get things really the way you want them. I have been a bespoke customer for about 20 years and I have found that by seeking out and working with vintage pieces by the best tailors I've been able to better work with tailors on new items and am able to shorten the time and cost of moving things toward the ideal. Each maker's details can vary from garment to garment depending on who did the cutting and when, and by living with other garments from a maker, I've been able to be more effective in communicating what I do and don't want to that maker. Even when alterations did not work out ideally I have always learned something at much less cost than if I'd learned them on my own bespoke.