Charcoal tweed jacket/waistcoat - fit?

[TheBrus]

I absolutely love the charcoal jacket/waistcoat advertised on the Gift Shop website. I have never bought a jacket for my kilt, but the experience I have had buying a jacket to wear with trousers has left me dissatisfied and questioning my want for a jacket. I understand that I should order one size up from my normal jacket size. My question is about the sleeves. I wear a dress shirt with a 23" sleeve. The measurement guide on the page says that the jacket sleeve length for my size jacket (42S) would be 24". What's frustrating for me about buying jackets is that I never get to show that 1/4" of shirt cuff that is supposedly proper. Is there something I'm not understanding? (Like how my kilt waist measurement is 2" bigger than my trouser waist measurement.) What advice does the rabble have for me?

JDB

[Lime]

I invariably have to have all my jackets (whether kilt or otherwise and even on "short" jackets) altered so that the arm length is correct.

Perhaps I just have short arms but in any case it isn't expensive and looks so much better than them being too long.

[TheBrus]

Anyone near the Museum that someone could recommend? P'raps when I order, I could have it shipped to the person who can make such alterations and have them send it on to me?

[Tobus]

Have you tried contacting them to see if you can get a custom sleeve length? Their advert implies that these are made to order in Scotland, with a lead time of 4-6 weeks. So it's possible that the answer is as simple as telling them what sleeve length you want, rather than suffering from "standard" sizing schemes. Best thing to do is measure precisely on a jacket that you already have to determine the sleeve length that works perfectly with your 23" shirt sleeve length (as measured from the shoulder seam) and see if they can just do that. There's no sense in ordering a brand-new jacket and then having to alter it when it comes in. That's just crazy talk! Make 'em do it the right length for you.

On the fit of the jacket itself, the customary "order one size up" advice needs to be taken with a grain of salt. If you haven't seen it already, check out this recent discussion on the topic. There's a link in that thread to another web page where more info can be had on chest sizing. Armed with that information, take another measurement of your chest, and perhaps some of the jackets you already own, and determine exactly what kind of fit you want. Then ask the STM to verify for you what the actual pit-to-pit measurement is for their jacket measurement scheme. You may end up wanting to alter your order once you have all that information.

I hate to say it, but it seems that most jackets I see people wearing simply don't fit them. And I think this is probably the result of confusion on how to order one, or vast inconsistencies on how they make them. Chest sizes are too large and sleeve lengths tend to be too long. Don't set yourself up to spend that much money on a product that isn't going to fit you well, or that you'll have to alter in order to wear. The fine folks at the STM will probably work with you to make sure you get the level of customer satisfaction and help that you need to be confident that your jacket will fit you exactly as you expect.

[TheBrus]

Thank you so much for the excellent advice. I, too, like a more fitted jacket... I didn't know what to search for, or I might have stumbled across your excellent advice in that previous posting, too. I'm sure the Museum folks will be able to help me... and I was right--there are things I probably just don't understand about how clothes are made.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

If I can shed some light on this...

The jackets on this page are NOT made to order, but are warehoused in Scotland. So you can get them in the sizes and styles listed, but we cannot accomodate any special requests. The charcoal jacket shown is a really nice jacket, and a great deal. But if the short sleeve length is still too short on you, our recommendation would be to take it to a local place to get it altared. Are there places near us that could do it? Sure. But I'm willing to bet there are places near you that could do it, as well. Most any dry cleaners has someone on hand who can do simple altarations like taking in a sleeve. Or look in the phone book under alterations. This would be my recommended course of action, because then you could try the jacket on and decide just how much shorter the sleeves need to be. Maybe they don't need to be taken in an inch. Maybe .75" is what is needed. Or 1.5". Maybe your left arm is .25" shorter than your right. These are things that can be easily handled in person, but not so much over the phone.

Now, the jackets on this page are in fact made to order. So a request like a custom sleeve length can be handled, though I would recommend ordering over the phone rather than via the web site, just to make sure that was communicated.