Thanks to his years of experience as an OGER tailor-made specialist, Arthur Peule knows better than anyone how you can enhance every body type through the right fit of a jacket. In this blog he shares his tips & tricks, so that you know what to look for when purchasing a jacket.

As a tailor, what do you pay attention to when designing a jacket?

'As a tailor, I always look at the customer's posture first, because a jacket itself is straight. However, once you put it on, it changes depending on the specific position of the person wearing it. Tall men tend to lean forward while overweight men tend to lean slightly backwards. For someone who leans forward, the jacket slides backwards at the neck, so I have to take that into account when measuring. When someone comes in, I can already see from his attitude which adjustments I need to make in the pattern. A tailor compensates for the imperfections and ensures that a suit visually balances the man's body.'

If I want a nice jacket, do I really have to have it made?

'If your posture is very out of balance, it is difficult to find a good jacket on the rack of a regular clothing store. Then you are actually forced to buy custom work. That used to be too expensive for many people, but nowadays you can afford it OGER already one tailor-made suit for 448 euros. For that price I completely adapted the suit to the customer's body.'  

What are the criteria?

'The most important thing with a jacket is the right width. The Netherlands has many tall men. The mistake that is often made with tall men is that they rely on height. For example, such a jacket is long enough for the wearer, but at the same time also very wide. And that is difficult to entertain. Changing a long and wide jacket requires a lot of adjustments, while you should try to change the basic pattern as little as possible. That's why I always take the width measurement as a basis. I can make a jacket a few centimeters longer without affecting the shape. This is possible up to approximately six centimeters. I can even make a sleeve ten centimeters longer.'

And if you are not tall, but plump?

'For a very obese person, I use the chest and shoulders as a benchmark, not the stomach. If you take the belly as a starting point, the rest will also be large and wide. Then you have the same problem as when you take the height measurement as a basis for a tall man. This means that too many adjustments are made to the basic pattern. If you take the chest and shoulders as a benchmark for a obese man, you can add an extra piece of fabric to the side panel and the front panel.'

What is the most difficult posture for a tailor?

'The difficult thing is the Jerommekes. Normally two fitting sessions are enough, but for people who regularly visit a gym you often need three sessions. If you watch the movies from the 1990s with Steven Seagal, you'll know what I mean. So it shouldn't be like that! Then it seems as if there are these huge cloths hanging around you. What you also often see in men with a firm chest is that the lapels on their chest move forward. I prevent this by creating a so-called dart in the interior of the jacket. This gives a nice curve, so that the jacket is, as it were, pulled over the chest. Very expensive ones brands, such as Brioni a dart is also added to the outer fabric.'

So a tailor camouflages the imperfections in a body?

'That's right. But clothing can also strengthen a body, at least in an optical sense. A good tailor makes a man look wider than he really is... which is what every man wants.'

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So how do tailors do that?

By adding half an inch of fabric on both sides from the waist to the shoulder. This causes the so-called "calyx formation". Then pull the shoulder a little further on both sides over the deltoid muscle, the top muscle in the arm. If you look at the man's back, at the back of his jacket, you see that it has taken the shape of a chalice. It seems wider. I definitely recommend such a procedure for men who are tall. In total I then add one centimeter in the width of it jacket.

But no two bodies are the same, right?

'That's right. What you often see is that almost every man has a shoulder difference. One shoulder is usually slightly lower than the other shoulder, approximately one centimeter. This can have many causes, including whether you are left or right-handed, whether you have exercised a lot or have had injuries. I regularly encounter men who have broken their collarbone and have a piano key fracture. This means that there is a bone sticking up at the shoulder that can be pressed. I have to take that into account when doing it jacket '

How do you prevent the back of your jacket from riding up?

'When you move around in your jacket, there is always a horizontal fold at the top of the back. That is inevitable. After all, you're going to have to move... you're not a mannequin! If you have a high shoulder, that crease will form a smiley face. If you have a low shoulder, it will form a sad face. My job as a garment maker is to show as little fold as possible.'

How long should the jacket be?

Over the years, the length of the jacket has become short. The waist has been raised, so that the closing button, the button that you close (the top button on a two-button jacket), has become higher. The closing button should be at the slimmest point of the body. As you get older, that point will be a little higher anyway, because you gain weight. Most men then get those hams above the waistband, causing the closing button to slide up to a place slightly above your navel. If you're very obese, it's a different story. Then you don't actually have a slim point. Then it is important to make the lapels deep, so that you appear taller. But because the waist and the closing button have become higher, the jackets have become shorter over the years.'

So what is the ideal length for a suit jacket?

I always follow the rule that I don't want to see any buttocks. The jacket stops where the legs begin. In other words, the bottom of the jacket is at the bottom of your crotch. Then it is all well balanced. You can still see your legs clearly, which visually creates length.'

Split or not?

'No split is Italian, one split is American, two splits is English. You hardly come across the first two anymore. Even in Italy you no longer see the Italian split, where almost everyone wears a double split. I almost always recommend that myself. Especially for people who have large thighs and/or buttocks (due to sports, for example). If you wear a jacket with a single vent on it, the vent will 'open'. A double split takes care of that. You then have no view, because the fabric under the two slits overlaps slightly. The fabric partly falls over each other, so that the buttocks do not poke through. With big buttocks you should always opt for a double split.'