Shorten Your Sleeves

I do not have short arms. In fact I’ve always thought them a little long if anything; average at the very least.

Yet every suit I buy has arms that are an inch too long. Surely the rest of the male population with a 40-inch chest can’t have arms that are that much longer?

The truth is, they don’t. Suits are just manufactured with longer arms than average because few men notice that their sleeves are too long. They’d notice if they were too short, as there would be a startling excess of cuff. But an inch or two too long goes unnoticed.

It’s the same with a jacket’s waist. Every off-the-peg jacket is made with a waist that is far bigger than the average for a man of that chest size. Because many thin men don’t notice that it’s too big about the waist. They don’t even do the jacket up most of the time. Yet fat men notice when the waist is too small. The physical discomfort ensures it.

Now I can just buy a 40 short, when the retailer offers it. The jacket will be shorter as well, but I generally prefer that style anyway. But if my arms are longer than average and I’m on the 40 short, what does everyone do that has shorter arms?

They don’t do anything. They let their sleeves be too long and as a result lose one of the joys of formal dressing – that colour combination that occurs at the end of the arm where cuff peeks out of jacket sleeve. If the sleeves are the correct length (shirt stopping at the base of the thumb, jacket at the wrist bone – when arms are at your side) there is a lovely dash of colour at the end of the arm that serves to flatter and highlight its length. It is one of the style loci (see previous post).

A sleeve that is one inch longer than it should be is just enough to cover the shirt cuff, but not enough to look wrong to the untrained eye. So men do not have it altered.

They should do. It is cheap to change, probably around £15 to £20 depending on your tailor – and assuming the jacket does not have working buttonholes. If it doesn’t have buttonholes the tailor can shorten the arm and move one button from the bottom to the top of the row. If it does, the shortening has to be done from the shoulder, with the whole sleeve being unsewn from the main body, shortened and reattached. That will be more like £35 to £40.

If you can change it cheaply, do. It’s another one of those little things that makes a big difference to how an outfit looks.

The Logical Jacket

It always gets hotter in the afternoon in this office. I don’t know whether the air conditioning is just tired, or the whole building is warming up after a day’s sunshine, but around 3pm it starts to get a little stuffy.

Today, joyously, it’s 3pm, I’m wearing a jacket, and I’m comfortable. The jacket is unstructured, cotton and half lined. It’s the lightest jacket I’ve ever worn by some distance – indeed, many would refer to it as a shirt jacket, I believe. But it’s produced an alternative to The Logical Waistcoat Theory.

For those who missed the original post on this topic, the problem addressed by the Waistcoat Theory was that air conditioning and central heating have made the jacket, whether suit or odd, largely redundant. Office workers take off their jacket when they get in, put it on the back of their chair and only put it on again when they go outside. Indeed, they might not even put it on then if it is a warm day; and if it’s a cold day they might prefer an overcoat.

The jacket is rarely worn, meaning that the suit is rarely worn in its entirety and loses many of its flattering aspects. There is also more pressure on the shirt fitting well, the tie is dragged out of its normal position and loses a little of its elegance, and most depressingly, people just don’t wear jackets – probably the most satisfying and defining aspect of menswear.

The advertising for suits looks a little silly all of a sudden, given that men only wear that full outfit for a small proportion of their day.

The waistcoat is a possible solution, as it is easier to wear all day long. It is elegant, keeps the tie tucked in, lengthens the silhouette and can be worked in at a desk quite comfortably.

The lighter jacket is another solution; one which is likely to find greater appeal I’m sure, given that some still have prejudices against the waistcoat. These half-lined jackets have been quite prevalent the last two summers, and can be picked up at many of the top-line retailers. Mine was found in the summer sale at Aquascutum, in navy and double-breasted.

(Regular readers will note that my declaration to never buy off-the-peg jackets did not last long. My only defence is that it was very good value, being 70% off, and would have been hard to get made by a tailor used to worsted suits and little else.)

Despite only being sold in the summer, these cotton jackets should be worn the whole year in my opinion. The key is for an office-worker to think of his outfit in two senses – what he wears inside and what outside. The cotton jacket is a way to make the inside outfit more dressy and flattering, as is the waistcoat. Outside an overcoat or not can be added depending on the weather.

A Dreamed-up Tie Tuck

As has often been lamented on this site, ties don’t perform the role they once did. Waistcoats are worn less, jackets are largely taken off when working, and even when jackets are worn they are frequently left unbuttoned. As a result, the tie has lost its place as a pert little dash of silk at the top of an outfit. Without the constraint of waistcoat or jacket, it flops, it twists and it waves.

There are a few posited solutions. You could wear your jacket more or bloody-well do it up; but I am unlikely to change people’s habits here. You could tuck it into the shirt; but this, while perhaps fashionable, is too much a quirk for most. You could switch to bow ties, which I know many do, particularly in jobs where they are often unable to wear a jacket. At least a bow tie remains consistently spruce and taut.

Most obviously, you could wear a tie clip. This can look stylish if done well, though apparently it should always be worn at an angle, rather than parallel to the floor (I can see why this might be more flattering – a horizontal rarely benefits an outfit, unless it is a handkerchief). Tie clips, however, often seem to be strangling a tie. Yes, the top half is now pert, but the bottom half is contorted and – if you listen very closely – emits a small choking sound.

A local tailor around here solves this problem, I have noticed, by wearing a vertical tie pin that enters the tie and then emerges again two inches lower, fastened with a small silver ball. This certainly spreads the area of pressure, reducing contortion, but it does also mean piercing the tie, twice. It’s not something I am eager to try without greater knowledge as to how one avoids damage to the tie.

So, having dismissed all other options, we come to a little something I dreamed up yesterday. Here’s how it works. Tie your tie as normal, then take the rear blade and loop it underneath one of the buttons on your shirt (the third one seems to work well for me) so it emerges from the shirt again on the other side of the button. Then tuck the rear blade into the loop of silk normally attached to the front blade.

The rear blade will be in its normal position, tucked into this silk loop and thus attached to the front blade. But is also anchored to the shirt a little further down, reducing flap, twist and wave.

Having experimented with a few ties, the effectiveness of this technique seems to vary considerably with the height of the silk loop on the front blade. Whatever its position, though, pick a shirt button that is as close to the loop as possible.

Have fun.

Socks Show Whether You Care

I always liked the saying “If you want to know if a man is well-dressed, look down.” But while this refers to footwear, and it can tell you a lot about how well-dressed a man is, I prefer to consider his socks.

A man’s shoes tell you about how much money he spends, perhaps about his taste and certainly about how well he looks after his clothes. A man with well-turned, well-polished brown brogues under his blue suit demonstrates a certain interest and investment in what he wears.

But socks tell you something different. Socks tell you immediately whether someone can be bothered. In the City, most suits are dark. Most men wear black shoes. So if they wear black socks every day, they will look smart, professional and have to spend absolutely no time in the morning thinking about their socks.

If, on the other hand, a City man decides to wear socks that match his suit, he will need at least three colours – grey, blue and black (yes, a depressing number of City workers still wear black suits). He will be more stylish and his legs will look longer. But he will need enough of each colour to make sure he doesn’t run out, and a certain time will be needed tin the morning to select the right pair. Travelling will take a little more thought as well.

It’s not a big expense, but wearing socks that match your trousers shows you care. Someone boasted to me recently that he always wears a belt that matches his shoes. I asked him what colour his shoes were. He had three black pairs and one brown. And admitted he usually wore brown at the weekend. Not much of an effort to match his belt to them, then.

Socks, on the other hand, take a little effort. Particularly if you get into the world of pattern, and have some stripes, spots etc. Then you have to consider the pattern on your trousers as well (roughly the same guidelines as ties – create contrast in the scale of the pattern). It all takes a little more time.

Colours of course, are another big jump up. Dark red and dark green are often recommended for grey suits. I’ve always liked purples and pinks with navy. And bright red or yellow seem to fit best with tan shoes, in my opinion.

But this is just one of the factors. As soon as you go for colour, the whole outfit has to be borne in mind. Is matching the sock to the tie a little too affected? Is it better if one is patterned? As with a handkerchief, you probably want something that harmonises without matching, but you are likely to have fewer options with socks than handkerchiefs.

Unusual colours are a quantum leap from grey, blue and black. But look out for the man who can be bothered to match his socks to his trousers. It is the best and quickest sign of someone who cares.

More Browsing in Tailors

I made a promise to myself after I had my last suit made in Hong Kong that I would never buy another suit off the peg. It fit so much better, was so perfect, that every suit or jacket since has felt awkward.

But it does take a lot of the fun out of browsing. If you don’t buy jackets or suits in shops, or shirts for that matter, and you’ve already bought too many shoes this year, there isn’t much else to look at. Ties, socks and handkerchiefs – that’s about it.

As a result I still find myself wandering into Ralph Lauren and browsing the suit rails. I still stroll down the road to Etro and look through their new season’s jackets. I tell myself it’s for inspiration, to pick up ideas for materials, cuts or quirky details that I can ask my tailor to replicate. But in my heart I know I’ll find something that’s too lovely to turn down. It hasn’t happened yet, but it’s only a matter of time.

With this predicament in mind I have a recommendation for tailors everywhere – kit out your shops with more examples of potential suits. Display the greatest range of cuts, materials and quirky details. Make coming into your tailoring studio as pleasant and inspiring as the best of the retailers. Make it more like a shop.

This would obviously entail a cost – most of those items on display are unlikely to be sold. But every off-the-peg retailer faces similar costs each season when it gets rid of old stock, or sells it at extreme discounts. The costs of occasionally rotating display stock at a tailor would be nowhere near as high.

This strategy would have many advantages, but the biggest would be that more people would come and simply spend time in the shop, looking for inspiration or considering a purchase. It is simply an extension of the mannequins that tailors use in their windows, just like any shop, in order to tempt customers in.

High-street retailers know the value of browsers – it is a painless way to create brand awareness and desire in potential customers. Tailors generally generate business through reputation or word-of-mouth. But how about if you don’t know that many people who use a tailor? How do you get a recommendation then? And how do you know they’ll be right for you?

Wandering into a tailors can be intimidating. They need to break down that fear barrier and encourage people to visit. Much of Savile Row is now better at that than it used to be, encouraging communication and even advertising. But there are still few people who wander in off the street.

Give me somewhere I can browse. You won’t be sorry.