The Ultimate Clothing Fit Guide | Suit, Shirt, Pant Breaks, Tie Length

All right, the number one most important thing when it comes to your outfit looking great is the fit. If the fit's not right, it's not going to look good. So in this video, I'm going to explain what you should be looking for to get that perfect fit. And we're going to be covering every single detail pertaining to the jacket, the pants, and shirt, as well as some accessories, including correct tie length, tie bar size and placement, and belt size. I can't stress enough just how critical this is. This is something you absolutely need to know and understand to look your best, so definitely pay attention to this video. We're going to start off with the jacket and talk about six key areas of fit, beginning with the shoulders. This is one of the most important and critical areas of fit to get right. For a properly fitting jacket shoulder, the shoulder seam should end just before your arm starts to break downward, and the sleeve should follow that line and roll smoothly down your arm with no creasing or dimpling at the shoulder. If the seam is closer to your neck, the jacket will look too small, and if it extends past your shoulder, the jacket will look too big. Moving on now to the jacket collar and lapels. The jacket collar should lay flat against your shirt collar and the back of your neck. There should not be a gap between the jacket collar and the shirt collar. If you see this, it means the jacket does not fit properly. Similarly, the lapels should also lay flat against your chest. One of the most common issues you see with lapels is where they kind of fold up off of your chest, and that is a sign that the jacket is too tight. Both a collar gap and a lapel that doesn't lay flat are indications that either the jacket doesn't fit, the jacket is poorly made, or that you might have a specific posture or fit concern that doesn't make that particular brand a good match for you. Let's talk about how the jacket should lay on your back. If you see any stress at all on the seam running down the center of your back, that is a sign that the jacket is too tight. If there's a bunching up of the fabric below the collar called a collar roll, this could be a sign that you have square shoulders as opposed to sloping shoulders, and again, that this particular suit brand might not be a good match for you. This is relatively common and not the end of the world if it's not too severe, but if you do want that perfect fit, this is something to pay attention to. Next is the jacket closure. When you button your jacket, it should feel comfortable with just a little bit of play between the jacket and your body, and there should be no visible bunching of the fabric. It should be smooth around the button and across your body. If you're seeing any bunching up like that, this is a telltale sign that your jacket is too small. One quick tip on buttoning the jacket, if it's a two-button jacket, always button the top button and never the bottom. Now let's talk about jacket length. This is something that can be a little subjective, however, a good rule of thumb is that the jacket should end at your thumb knuckle. Another way to determine if this is correct is if your arms are hanging down straight, when you make a fist, the tips of your fingers should just touch the bottom of the jacket. Another thing to note is that like a good lawyer, your jacket should always cover your butt. The final jacket fit consideration is the sleeve length. Ideally, the sleeve should end right about at your wrist bone. If it's too high, the sleeve's going to look too short, and if it's too low, the sleeve will look much too long. Now we're going to move on to our pants and two specific concerns starting off with the length. Now, before I talk about what is correct in terms of pant length, let me show you what is incorrect. This is too short, where you're seeing a lot of ankle and sock, and this is too long, where there's a lot of pooling of the fabric down by your ankles. Now, when we start to get into what is the correct or ideal pant length, that's when it gets very subjective and dependent on your personal style preferences, as well as your body type. When we talk about pant length, we use the term break, which refers to the fold or creasing of the fabric above where the pant leg meets your shoe. There are four different types of pant breaks, and what I'm going to do now is walk you through each one of them and explain why you might choose one over the other. Pant break number one is no break. Name kind of speaks for itself here, and no break refers to absolutely no crease where the pant leg meets the shoe. This is a very aggressive and fashion forward look and requires a tapered pant leg to look correct, which we will get to in a moment. No break is the style that looks best on younger guys and slimmer guys. Pant break number two is the slight break. With the slight break, the bottom of the pant leg is just going to be kissing the top of your shoe and have a very slight crease. The slight break is for the modern style conscious guy who likes the idea of no break, but wants to avoid looking too trendy. Again, best for slimmer guys or those not carrying some extra weight around the midsection or up top. Pant break number three is the medium break. A medium break is the perfect all around length for anyone of any shape or size. If you've got a more conservative style, don't want to be too trendy, and just want something that looks classic and natural, the medium break is the style that you should choose. And pant break number four is the full break. The full break is a more classic old school style that will only work with wider trousers. The full break looks best on older gentlemen, heavier guys, and in vintage slash throwback situations. Now, once you've decided on the pant length that you prefer, the final consideration with regard to pants is the width of the leg. And the name of the game here is to have everything look proportional, so when you see the outfit as a whole, everything looks cohesive. Here, it is especially important that you pay attention to your particular body type. If you're taller and slimmer, your pant leg can be narrower. And if you have broader shoulders, or you're a broader guy in general, the pant leg is going to have to be wider to look correct. It's very trendy right now to have a slim pant leg, and some custom suit companies will try to push you in that direction. But always remember that what's most important is that you dress your body, and that you're true to that, rather than trying to get a look that won't work for you. This is one of the keys to looking great. Let's move on now to how your shirt should fit, starting with the shoulder. A perfect fit for your shirt shoulder is exactly the same as the jacket shoulder. The seam should hit just before your shoulder ends, with the sleeve falling smoothly down your arm. If the seam is closer to your neck, the shirt is too small. And if the seam extends to where your shoulder starts to break or goes beyond that, the shirt is too big. Moving on to the collar. A collar should not be too tight. You don't want to feel like you're being choked, which is obviously incredibly uncomfortable. And you don't want your collar to be too loose either, because that will look sloppy. The general rule to follow here is to be able to comfortably stick your index finger between the collar and your neck while the top button is buttoned. The fit around your body. Again, similar to having your suit buttoned, you don't want to see any pulling on the fabric by the buttons when they're buttoned. This is a sign that the shirt is too tight. And you also don't want to have a lot of excess fabric bunching up on the sides, which means your shirt is too large. When the fit is just right, it should feel comfortable. You should be able to move around easily and not feel constricted in any way. The final important consideration with your shirt is the sleeve length. If you've got the proper jacket sleeve length, you've got to make sure that your shirt sleeve length is right as well. Ideally, you're looking for it to hit just above your palm. If it's higher than your wrist bone, that's too short. And if it's extending over your wrist onto your palm, that means the sleeve is too long. The last question you might have about sleeve length is how much of your shirt cuff should show under your jacket sleeve. Although guidance varies on this question, it's generally accepted that you should show between a half inch and one inch of shirt cuff. Okay, now that you understand how your jacket, pants, and shirt should fit, let's move on to a few accessories, starting with your tie and the correct tie length. The tip of your tie should extend just past the top of your belt buckle. Too short looks a little silly and too long looks pretty sloppy. Now, depending on the length of your tie or the length of your torso, you may run into a situation where the back blade of the tie is too long, even if the front is perfect. Two quick solutions for that problem, you can either tuck the back blade inside your shirt or fold it up and pin it to keep it out of view. One final consideration here is that when you tighten the tie around your neck, you want it to be flush with the collar to avoid any gap between the collar and the top of the tie. Now, if you're wearing a tie, you may consider wearing a tie bar. So let's talk about correct tie bar size and correct tie bar placement. In terms of size or length, it's all about proportion in relation to the width of your tie. Tie bar that's just about three quarters the width of your tie is just about perfect, and a tie bar should never be wider than your tie. In terms of placement, you want to wear it between the third and fourth buttons of your shirt right around your sternum. Too high or too low is going to throw off that balance and not look right. The angle of your tie bar should always be perpendicular to your tie and not crooked. And always be sure that you're attaching the tie bar to both your tie and your shirt placket since the purpose of a tie bar is to hold your tie in place. Finally, let's talk about your belt. When you're pairing a belt with your suit, you definitely want it to be the right size. Typically, your belt size is gonna be about two sizes larger than your waist size. And you'll know if you have the correct belt size if the tip of the belt ends about halfway between your fly and your hip. One final thing to pay attention to with your belt is what's called the gig line. So when your shirt's tucked in, the placket of your shirt should form a straight line with your fly. And your belt buckle should also be in line with this. If any of these three things are off slightly, you can see how sloppy that looks. All right, I know that was a lot of information, but again, I can't stress enough just how important it is to understand the principles of proper fit. If your wedding tuxedo or wedding suit doesn't fit right, if your shirt doesn't fit right, if your tie's too long, if your tie bar's not right, if your belt is too long or too short, you will not look as good as I know you want to. Knowing how things should fit is the one secret to transforming your look from just okay or bad to absolute perfection. It is literally what separates a well-dressed guy from a guy who looks like he doesn't know what he's doing. This video is definitely worth watching again, and I encourage you to do that. And getting the proper fit will require working with a tailor, which I will cover in the next video. However, if you have any questions about anything I explained in this video, let me know.