How should a suit fit?
Your Easy-to-Follow Visual Guide
We all know that how we look is important when it comes to the way that we feel about ourselves. Everyone wants to feel good about how they look and confident in the way that other people perceive them.
If you're dressing on a budget, one of the most popular pieces of advice out there is to buy off-the-rack suits in the best fit you can get, and then take them to a tailor for custom adjustments.
But if you're really going to get any benefit out of having your suits adjusted, you need to know a little bit about tailors and the kinds of adjustments they can (and can't) make. You also need to know what a "good" fit actually looks like.
Tailors vary in skill and in how they communicate the work they're doing, so getting a suit adjusted is only going to deliver a good return if you can make your exact needs clear. Below, we give you an easy-to-follow rundown on how your suit should fit.
Classic vs. Modern vs. Slim vs. Skinny
Classic Fit
A “classic” fit will be more generous in size overall. Rather than having a contoured cut, you’ll find the waist of the jacket and leg of the pants to have a pretty even cut without much tapering. This fit had its heyday in the ’80s and ’90s, but some brands offer a modern version of the classic fit that’s just a little more generous in the seat and thigh of the pants, and in the arms of the jacket. You can expect the same from a “regular” fit.
Modern Fit
Modern Fit falls between Slim Fit and Classic Fit: it's not too boxy, but it has more room than a Slim Fit. Modern Fit is a great choice for guys who want something a little more fashion-forward than Classic Fit, but are not sure they can pull off Slim Fit.
Slim Fit
A “slim” fit offers the best of both worlds: a contoured cut that looks great, but with just enough room to shake your groove thing. It’s also timeless, so a very safe choice for fit if you’re purchasing a suit. The jacket will have a tapered waist, hugging you in all the right places, and the arm holes will neither feel baggy nor constrict your movement. Plus, the leg of the pant will taper down to your shoe, creating a slimming effect.
Skinny Fit
A “skinny” fit is probably going to mean what you think it means: it will contour your body closely. This probably isn’t a great fit if you’re planning on… I don’t know, doing the YMCA or entering a limbo contest? That’s because this fit won’t leave you with much extra fabric (literally no wiggle room) in the jacket or pants. But if you’re going for a model-in-a-magazine look, skinny fit probably checks all the boxes. Just don’t plan on lifting any boxes.
Portly Fit
Regardless whether it is formal or informal occasions, suits are the preferred attire for every modern man, who has a reed-slim silhouette. But blokes carrying few extra pounds always find a way to stay away from this modern ensemble with the fear of getting their bloated bellies exposed. Portly cut is invented with the intention of making the suits fit better for a full figured man. It is more or less similar to standard cut, but the major difference between them is the suit jacket to pants drop. For normal cut the drop measures 6" whereas portly cut features 4" drop. When the size of garment featuring this type of cut gets larger, the drop gets smaller accordingly. For more information, pease click here.