Turn Back Your (Cotton) Cuffs

OK, so this is how I came to the earth-shattering style insight alluded to in the title:

• most of my ready-to-wear jackets have sleeves that are slightly too long;

• most of those jackets are casual as my suit jackets are mostly bespoke;

• because they are casual they tend to be of rougher material (cotton, linen);

• they are also cheaper jackets for that reason;

• so I’ve never paid to have the sleeves shortened (because they are casual and because they are cheaper);

• so I end up turning back the ends of the sleeves by an inch or so.

Do you like the quasi-logical approach to this style analysis? Essentially, I realised that I like turning over the end of my sleeves on casual jackets. I like it as a small style quirk, as a little casual but personal touch. But I think it only works with casual jackets because the roughness of the material matches the casual nature of the gesture.

A business suit is usually made of smooth worsted wool because smoother, sleeker clothes are smarter. Smooth cloth goes with crisp creases, high-shine shoes and sharply angled handkerchiefs. Can you feel the aesthetic?

By contrast, linen is rough and ready, goes with crumpled lines and soft woollen ties, faded madder dyes and heavy, seamed shoes (Derbys, brogues, double soles). So turning back your cuffs can work.

If you wanted turned back cuffs on a smoother cloth, they would have to be precisely turned and stitched down – like the cuffs you get on velvet jackets and some overcoats. That is the only turned back cuff that will work because it is exacting, fine and firm.

Of course, you need to be able to physically turn back the cuffs for this theory of mine to apply. So a tweed or heavy wool jacket will not work. This is the exception to the rule, though the rule remains – casual touches will work best with these heavy, rougher jackets. So if you need to do some more manual labour (and the cuffs unfasten) roll back those sleeves and get down to it. It’s what working cuffs were designed for, after all. Makes it easier to clean your hands afterwards as well.

(Interesting how times have changed though. John Hitchcock, managing director at Anderson & Sheppard, confirmed to me recently that the firm used to refuse to make working cuffs. They were the sign of a labouring man. And today they are a sign of quality that even A&S is happy to provide. As John put it, “we’ve always liked to be a little bit different.”)

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A Step Further In Suit Alterations

One true hallmark of a bespoke suit is the size of its armholes. Most armholes in ready-to-wear suits (and made-to-measure patterns, to a certain extent) cater for men with larger arms and shoulders, in order to be on the safe side. As with so many other areas of menswear, no one notices when they’re too big, but everyone would notice if they were too small. Smaller armholes are also just harder to make.

As bespoke is cut uniquely for you, the armholes can be as small as you want. And the biggest advantage of small armholes is that the arms can move independently of the body of the jacket, without dragging its chest and back all over the place.

Lift up your arms and see how far the waist button rises (when the jacket is done-up). With a bespoke suit, that movement is vastly reduced. So your collar stays on the back of your neck, your upper body is more consistently shaped by the jacket’s cut, and if you’re Fred Astaire you can dance and wave your arms around while still looking good. (Modern equivalent: it’s much easier to work at a computer for long periods, arms stretched forward.)

This effect is accentuated when a larger sleevehead is eased by hand into that small armhole, as accentuated by tailors such as Anderson & Sheppard and ready-to-wear by brands such as Kiton.

It would be great if a ready-to-wear suit could be altered to have smaller armholes. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. A smaller armhole means extra material under the sleeve and in the body of the jacket – and most suits don’t supply any extra here.

There is, however, a cheat. If you get your tailor to insert a thin extra shoulder pad into each side of the jacket, it lifts up the armholes and effectively makes them smaller – as the pad at the top is taking up some of that armhole space.

The downside is that you have bigger shoulders. But I don’t mind this. As I have sloping shoulders anyway, I tend to ask tailors to build in a slightly heavier shoulder pad. And increasing the padding in a ready-to-wear suit also lifts up the drape of the jacket, removing the folds that collect next to my sleeves in the back (due to those sloping shoulders). So it suits me both ways.

The effect is not the same as a genuinely smaller armhole, of course. The circumference is still the same. But it gets partway there and is certainly an improvement. I wouldn’t recommend it for men with large or square shoulders, and the insert should always be pretty slim, but if you happen to have a similar body type to me, I recommend trying it.

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Are You Going Out In That

I am often asked this question; “What do you wear when you go out?”

Why am I asked such a question? Chiefly, because my particular inclinations (bow ties, paisley pocket squares and fuss) do not seem to marry with the idea of what that particular person considers ‘going out’ clothing. ‘Going out’ is unambiguous code for late night bar-hopping, clubbing, guest list queues and almost any activity past 6 in the evening that involves the purchase and consumption of alcohol and the ‘musical’ assailing of the ears.

For women, ‘going out’ is frankly ceremonial. Hours before departure, dresses are trialled with necklaces, shoes, bags, bracelets and boleros. Make-up is invariably applied, hair remarkably coiffed, skin moisturised and nails shining. Men make no such effort. In fact, men often make no distinction between day wear and evening wear at all. This is largely because the line between the two has blurred considerably, but also because eveningwear used to be so easy for the poor, uninterested male. All he needed was a few white evening shirts, a black bow tie and a dinner suit. He never cultivated alternatives or variations as women did. As stiff and as formal as it sounds, black tie was perfect for the man who didn’t care.

These days, he has the misfortune of choice. The most common dilemma is ‘Which clean shirt shall I wear?’ followed by ‘Which jeans match smell the best?’ For the shirt, usually untucked, worn with jeans is by far the most common ‘going out’ ensemble for men in my neck of the woods. I cannot stand it. It lacks invention. It lacks presence. Although, I admit, it is rather perfect for the environments in which it is often seen – dark, cramped, sweaty clubs that remind me more of a musical Tube ride at rush hour than an MTV video set.

Although I would always encourage a gentleman to wear the clothing he feels most comfortable in, even if this be tweed n’ cords, I always adjust my signature a little when I venture out for a ‘hit’ of nightlife. I tend to tone down; bright clashes of colour that work well in the sunlight have little effect in the gloom of a club. Also, I tend to work with more monochromatic colours – greys, white, black, navy blue – and stay away from brown. Colour and flourish added can be rather simple. Ties, if I wear them, tend to be simpler and stronger in contrast if patterned. If I go without a tie, I invariably add a silk pocket square. Silhouette is always important but at night it is particularly pertinent as less detail is on display; ergo, trousers should be flatteringly slim and jackets short.

I also think playing with texture is more important than playing with colour subtleties; the odd patent belt, velvet jacket or slub-silk trouser adds depth. The best thing is, ‘going out’ clothing is far easier for the male to achieve as so much of it can be borrowed from what is considered to be his ‘work wardrobe.’ For that ease of transition, the male is envied.

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Reader Question: Taking Pictures To The Tailors

Amrit: Simon,  I am new to your blog but have read your experiences with your Hong Kong tailor with great interest. I really like the double-breated suit by E Tautz in a recent post as well and was wondering to what extent it is advisable to show such pictures of suits you like to tailors

The short answer, Amrit, is that it is very helpful but should be no substitute for personal research.

A picture is useful because it answers questions that the tailor may forget to ask you or you may forget to tell him. It may also help steer him away from a house style. But if you’re not careful, he may take too many cues from that photo – you have to tell him what you don’t want as well!

Let’s start with an example. The E Tautz suit you like (link) is quite shaped, nipped in at the waist with a jacket slightly on the short side. The trousers are also very short and the sleeves are pretty narrow.

If you go to a tailor and give him a long list of requirements – 4×4 fastening, three-inch drop to the lapel from the shoulder seam, 2.5-inch wide lapel, patch pockets (side and chest), working cuffs, half-lined, one rear (buttoned) pocket on the trousers, slanted side pockets on the trousers, roped shoulder, flat-front trousers, uncuffed – you may feel you’ve covered everything he could possibly want to know. It’s such a long list.

But you’ve forgotten to mention the jacket length. He doesn’t know, forgot to ask (perhaps because he has a standard he normally works to) and now can’t ask you. But he has the photo. So he can check that, get an idea of your aesthetic and go for something close.

Having a photo is also useful to avoid that house style or standard that he might work to. Asian suits, for example, tend to be boxy, big in the waist and wide of trouser. If you don’t specify a width to the trousers, he might cut them pretty wide. And even if you’ve specified a width, he might tend towards the more conventional (his conventions) to be on the safe side. Having an image reinforces your point of view and helps convince him that you know what you want.

Give him this photo and you will not get a suit in a typical Asian cut.

However, check carefully for things in the picture you may not want. I commissioned a Norfolk blazer (an invention, really) a while back from my tailor in Hong Kong, and gave him an image to get an idea of the belt I required (link). Unfortunately, he also copied the front corners of the jacket – making them square rather than rounded. That had to be changed at late notice.

Equally with this suit, I doubt you want your trousers quite that short. They’re not even resting on the shoe; they’re a good inch above. Have you thought about whether you want your breast pocket to be patch as well? It’s not a style I like.

So use a picture, yes. But look at it very carefully and make sure you know what you don’t want from that style. There’s no substitute for personal research and knowledge.

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Reader Question: Packing For A Trip

Adam: Can you offer some advice on packing for traveling and extended holidays? I will be on a 10-week holiday in western Europe this late summer-fall. I am at a loss as to how many sport coats, shoes etc I should pack. I know that I will be able to do laundry, which helps with some trousers and shirts. Given your obvious propensity for rigor and depth, the type and degree of information I am looking for would be something like: Can you recommend a shoe that is suitable for traveling and walking through museums etc. a lot? Some days will be touristy, while others are less packed. How does one look cool, wear cool shoes and not wear down shoes or kill one’s feet? Trainers/converse just won’t do. (Other questions: how many shoes? Should I bring my polish kit?)

Wow, that’s a lot of questions Adam. Specific advice on what you should take would require more information though – on your taste, formality of dinners or evening events etc. But I can certainly pass on some advice.

First, once you’re away for more than two weeks it doesn’t matter how long you’re away for. The amount of clothes is the same. You just have to look after them better and wash more.

Next, the key to shoes and jackets is to take a range that is flexible and, together, will fit any situation. So, for jackets I would take something like: navy cashmere blazer, checked sports coat (in perhaps a pale grey ground) and a corduroy or Harrington jacket.

The idea is that the blazer would be smart enough for anything, bar the opera; and the corduroy would be rough enough for anything (walk home across a field from a country pub, perhaps). In between these two extremes, they provide variety. And they can be alternated during the day as well – donning the blazer for a nice dinner out, for example.

Three is also a good number for shoes. You need at least two, so they can be alternated every day, and three means they can also be changed in the evening if they’ve had heavy wear.

Again, you want to cover all your bases. So at one end, perhaps a smart pair of Oxford lace-ups in chocolate calf, at the other a pair of desert boots in biscuit suede, and in between something for variety – monk-straps, perhaps, or slip-ons for easy days at the hotel.

These will cover all eventualities unless you want to go running, hiking, to the beach or to a business meeting. Unless there are any formal evening events, you won’t need black shoes. And the desert boots will be rough and ready enough for that walk back from the pub.

As to your more specific questions, a good pair of well-fitting leather shoes should be the best thing to walk around in all day. Lace-ups support you better than slip-ons or boots. And you probably won’t need your shoe-polish kit. Just brush the shoes down every day after you’ve worn them and take at least one pair of travel shoe trees, to put in after you’ve brushed them.

Make good use of good dry cleaners and cobblers where you are staying, and give all of your clothes some love when you get back home.

Any more specific questions, let me know. And enjoy your trip!

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