Sizing Mens Suits

pastperfect2

pastperfect2

Alumni +
I just ran across some good standard information on sizing mens suits.

AS most of you know, a man's chest mesurement is his suit coat size.

But the coat itself measures 4" more. At least in modern suits. In period suits, especially pre 1940s, the coats seem to run to 2"-3" of ease rather than 4".

So if you find a coat and it measures 44" flat, it's approx a SZ 40.

Another clue is the waist of the pants. Providing it hasn't been altered, the difference bewteen the waist and Suit size on a modern suit is 6". So a SZ 40 suit has 34" pants. A SZ 38 has 32 pants.

I tried this system out last week when I was measuring 15 period suits. It worked very well on the later 40s to 60s. The 30s suits that had vests indicated that the jackets weren't cut with as much ease.


Hollis
 
I think the pant waist size is a great clue.

The ones from the late 60s through 70s that are more of that edwardian revival dandy look tend to be cut a LOT slimmer also i have found.
 
Absolutely!

Right now we are in a rather loose fitting trend, with still wideish shoulders.

The 60s and 70s were much more body conscious in every respect. And the late 50s started the slimmer look. The 40s and early 50s have a draped, roomy quality in comparsion. You can see the 30s lack of shoulder padding on the Burberrys Suit I have up right now. It's a much more natural armsceye.

Now a custom made suit will of course run to the customer measures, so there are loads of exceptions to proportion out there.

I still remain so grateful when I find a suit with both the date and size marked in the pocket

Hollis
 
Do you believe it...i had a Levi's cord blazer from the 70s that was a size 36 and measured....36?? Gosh that was one slim guy, but thats the blazer that really screwed me up as far as the sizing thing.
 
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