How Should a Suit Jacket Fit

James Sleater - the owner of the Cad & The Dandy on Savile Row providing insights into how a how a jacket should fit.

How should a suit jacket fit? The biggest thing we strive for at Cad & The Dandy and on Savile Row is that a jacket looks clean. There shouldn’t really be any creases, any pull marks or any tension in the cloth. The fundamentals, some of the most important bits, the shoulders should sit and run really nice and flat they shouldn’t be sticking up or pulling down, there should be no areas of tension.

Really important is the arm hole, it should be cut high under the arm hole so you can get much more shape through the body. Made to measure and ready to wear jackets, the arm hole is much lower which means you can’t get the same amount of shape and curvature and actually that’s what most people want. A lot of Savile Row always talk about their suits being understated and I think that almost does Savile Row a disservice. There is an understated elegance to a suit but fundamentally everyone wants the shape. Everyone wants it to look to emphasise the body, to make it look fitted, I think that’s one of the most key elements that Savile Row does itself a disservice with.

The suits built in 3D. A ready to wear jacket, a made to measure jacket often looks better at hanging on a coat hanger than it does on a mannequin or a body. When you hand make something, you’re actually trying to build it in 3D, you’re trying to give the jacket it’s shape, so a lapel for example should stick out at the bottom, it shouldn’t be flat against the body like that.

The chest should be curved that helps emphasise the waist. A shoulder seam should be raised it should have you know, a bit of presence about it, that’s what we’re trying to give our customers, a bit of presence, so people notice the suit, but also notice the guy wearing it, notice the shape, notice the fit. And that’s what a suit should look like.

This video is from the Rampley & Co Tailoring Series, you can see more videos and articles about how to dress like a gentleman on the Rampley and Co blog.