Tailoring a suit

[Nick Charles]

How muchcan a suit be altered before it looks dumb. Can a jacket be brought in from a 50 chest to a 46 and still look good, or pants from 44 to 40?

 

[Marty M.]

Nick Charles, most of the time I would say no. A suit typically can't be altered that much. Unless it's a smaller model 44. And the person wearing it is a larger size 40. What I'm trying to point out is that not all suits that say that they're a 44 are cut the same. Shoulder points can be brought in. Chests and waist can be brought in. The center seam can also be brought in.
On the trousers, the problem lies in the seat of the pants. If you're a guy with some junk in the trunk, you might be able to alter the pant. You'll here Tailors talk about recutting trousers. Recutting is a big job. Typically a recut envolves takeing the waistband off, moving the pleats, moving the pockets and taking in the side seams. Along with takeing in the waist, seat and thigh.
So with all this comes a pretty hefty charge. You have to decide if it's worth the tailoring fees and the trips to the tailorshop. And, it still may not be perfect. Best of luck.

Marty

 

[GateXC]

The most I would usually try to alter is a difference of one suit size: i.e. 40 to a 38. Any more than that and it begins to look way too obvious what you've done and you'll never get a good fit. Esp. fors jacket because there are too many elements that work in conjunction to give it its shape and if you mess with one part it might (and probably will) throw off how another part sits or acts.

Also as a tip, when stripping out jackets it is always better to take the fabric in from the 2 back, side seams rather than the middle seam.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I recently had a bunch of inches (about 4 off the chest, 8 off the waist) taken off a jacket. As someone said earlier, the seamstress took it in at the back-centre seam and the two back-side seams. The jacket looks pretty good. It went from the standard modern american box to a nice slimline vintage british-type cut (this was a mid 50s suit. I think it was made for someone with same size chest and waist, so looked boxy).

The only thing to worry about was the movement of the pockets. If you take too much from the waist and hips the pockets will end up over your kidneys.

bk

 

[Matt Deckard]

With today's tailoring I would say about 2 inches. 40 to 38 ... something like that. With a vintage suit you have more leeway to the downside, though to the upside you are constrained by the size of the armholes.