Thanks, Melanie. I figured the chest was about that, but I want to mark the ones I bought at the thrift store and wasn't sure about the length. I do measure the arm length that way for shirts, but never thought to measure a jacket that way.
Kate Pinner -----Original Message----- From: h-costume-boun...@indra.com [mailto:h-costume-boun...@indra.com] On Behalf Of Melanie Schuessler Sent: Saturday, June 20, 2009 9:49 AM To: Historical Costume Subject: Re: [h-cost] men's suit size? Sometimes more modern ones will have a tag inside the inner breast pocket. Otherwise, button the suit, flatten it out, and measure from armpit to armpit, making sure that the center front doesn't gape. Multiply that number by two and subtract four. That's basically the size chest the suit will fit, as most modern suits are built with about 4" of ease. Some period suits are designed to be closer- fitting than that, so it depends on the era. The length is from the seam at the base of the collar to the hem center back. Short suits are approximately 28-29", regular suits 30-31", and long suits 32-33". Again, period suits differ based on the style, and some modern suits are cut long for panache. You might also measure the sleeve, as whether a suit is the right length for a person really has more to do with their arms than their torso. For a generic modern suit, you generally want the relaxed fingertips of the wearer to brush the hem. So a short guy with long arms might wear a regular suit and a medium-height guy with short arms might wear a short suit (just make sure it still covers his behind). In theatre we usually take the sleeve measurement on a person from center back to wrist with the person holding their arm like they're a waiter with a towel over it. (The second number of men's dress shirt sizes is this measurement.) Measure the jacket the same way, and you'll get a much better fit than just doing the chest and the length. You can of course alter the sleeve length to a certain extent--especially if you're shortening--but it's a huge pain. Melanie Schuessler On Jun 19, 2009, at 2:18 PM, Kate Pinner wrote: > On a contemporary (or for that matter, vintage) man's suit, once the > tags are off, how do you tell what size it was sold as? I realize that > most of them have been altered somewhat to the individual, but where > do you measure the jacket for chest? length? > > > Kate Pinner > > > > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > h-costume@mail.indra.com > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
