Used Suit Shopping

[Jrchloe]

When looking for used custom suits what should one be looking for fit wise? How many inches can suits be let in in different places (chest, waist, shoulder, etc)? What else should one be looking for? What can not be fixed (like nape to waist length)? Can the shape of the bell be improved since it is a custom suit?

[smurphy0806]

Biggest thing, is make sure the jacket sits good on your waist/hips, and at the shoulders. What I mean with the waist/hips is where the darts hit. If they are too low or too high you can't alter them. at all really. Almost all other things can be fixed, but waist/hips and shoulders are HARD and sometimes REAL expensive to get altered.

It does depends on where you are getting it altered... if you send a suit to somewhere like SS Connection, you could probably give them a suit that is 10 sizes to big and alter it to fit you... but that would be expensive. For local shops, I would not recommend that. Just minor alterations.

There was this one lady at my stables who bought a suit from hartmeyers, she needed something fast. She had REAL broad shoulders so she had to buy it several sizes too big for her waist. By the time she got it, she realized the shoulders were WAY too big, but she needed it FAST and didn't have time to send it back to hartmeyers. She took it to a tailor and had them take in the waist, shoulders, everything. She ended having to take it to the tailor 4 times in order to get a proper fit with the shoulders. Everything else was GREAT after 1 session, and she was able to get by with it at the show. But I remember her saying how much money she spent in tailoring costs.

If your buying from a person (ie not a consignment) selling their suit, ask what street size they are. If they are a much larger street size, then don't do it. If they are smaller AT ALL don't do it. (Unless you wear your pants REALLY baggy.)

Pants can be let in a lot. So can Jackets, just make sure the shoulders fit and it sits at the correct place on your hips. What is real difficult is the length of pant and length of jacket. Make sure those are correct, especially the jacket, because there usually isn't a lot of let down in the jacket.

Bells can be altered, if the lady who you take it to knows what she is doing. If you show her a bell that you like... on a pair of jods that fit you, she can do it, but don't trust someone to use their imagination.

Also, make sure you go to a tailor you have been to before, or ask around. Don't bring your brand new (to you) suit to a person who you have never tested anything out on. Ask around your area or your barn.

We have a greek tailor shop 2 blocks from the stables. I still remember the first time we brought stuff to her... Its too long right??? NO! SO she was like "OK???" and she didn't shorten it. At that point we knew we had a winner. Now we go to her for EVERYTHING.

[Jrchloe]

Are the darts for the waist part of the nape to waist measurement?

[smurphy0806]

Are the darts for the waist part of the nape to waist measurement?

Yes. The darts I'm talking about is where it would "flair" out. You know how the suit folds under in the back??? And when you trot it will blow in the wind??? The area where all the fabric meets is the darts I mean. You can usually get away with 1-1.5 inches too high or too low, but that's a MAXIMUM. At least as far as I'm concerned. I would never go more than that.