Lets have a look at the cut of a suit. First I will take you through the most influential decades in suit design.
Think back to the 20’s with big double breasted, zoot suits (wow they are extreme!). My point is the fit was baggy. Suits did change style through the years, but the big changes came in the 1960’s
This developed in the 70’s when the thigh went tight, and the flared bottoms got bigger. Jackets were still fairly standard fit. some got longer, and big pockets on both sides of the chest.
The 80’s got more serious. suits were conservative, classic cut, and this continued into the 90’s and even the 2000’s. In the early days, there were plenty of double breasted suits about, but by 2010, it had become almost impossible to buy one, unless you knew a good tailor who would make it for you.
20 years ago when we first started selling suits, we only sold one fit. Generally that had big padded shoulders, plenty of space for your tummy (if you had one), arms that covered your shirt, pleated trousers so that you could sit in comfort, and plenty of fabric in the thigh area.The Nehru and double breasted were popular, but in all styles, the fit was comfortable.
Compare that with now, where a younger mans’ suit is considered by the men of that generation to be 2 sizes too small! And that is why we now have 3 fits:
Classic Tailored and Slim.
The classic is a comfortable fit. It is a roomy, and gives the wearer the ability to move easily without restriction. If you carry an extra few pounds, it helps you disguise it, and if you spend hours in a car, you will appreciate the looser fit trouser.
The Tailored is a more modern cut of the classic. A little of the extra fabric on the arm, the thighs and the waist is taken in. I say extra, because each size is cleverly designed to fit a gentleman of that chest size and height. We know for example that if you are a size 58 chest, you have a little extra on your tummy, and the jacket and trousers are styled to fit you. So the extra, is the extra 2″ on the tummy that is designed as extra room on the classic.
The slim fit is a size slimmer again, as the name suggests. If we look at the trouser bottoms, then I think this tells the story very well. A classic will generally be 17″ bottoms, the tailored is a 16″ bottom, and the slim fit is 15″ bottoms. (All measured round the circumference of the trouser). We recommend only.
To find our latest selection go to our Mens Suits page and on the Left hand side look down for fit”. It could not be simpler.