Fit vs comfort.

[scottish steve]

Today I ditched one shirt as being too baggy in the stomach and re-assessed 3 others which I used to feel were specificaly for emergency use. These items in particular look about perfect when standing up, but an hour or so sitting down and I can't help feeling too hemmed in and self-conscious. Stand up, do the old 'Picquard adjustment' and I'm sorted again.
Is this simply a symptom of wearing clothes which have not been made to measure? Would opting for better quality solve these problems? Or is it part and parcel of wearing clothes which fit closely for a more formal look? Its wierd I should be asking this as I am 100% certain about the fit of a jacket, coming from a wet and cold country, but walking around in short sleeves is something different.

 

[M80]

 

[professorchaos]

Why can't you have comfort and fit?

 

[scottish steve]

That's the reason I posted. It seems to me that now I've lost weight I can afford to wear clothes which are more fitted. Previously, it was just a question of 'not too baggy' but now more figure-hugging items show off the fact that I am only a very tiny bit overweight. But the trade-off is less flexibility. I've always found that boot-cut jeans, nicely-fitting jackets etc suit me and I feel good in them. It's just really the inner top garment giving me grief. I exchanged two t-shirts today also as too tight- they looked good but I felt gripped around the chest- it was, er, 'intimate' and disconcerting!

 

[jakespoppy]

I'm not slim and trim, and I've wondered about the comfort of the close fitting clothes that are fashionable today, whether it's close fitting fitted dress shirts, tee-shirts, or skinny jeans. And suit coats and slacks, too. I read once that if a suit jacket is well-fitted, it is more comfortable if it fits more closely through the chest and around the arms, and that you actually have more freedom of movement with a close fitting jacket than a looser fitting one. None of it makes sense to me. Yes, it looks better to me when someone is slim and wears close fitting clothes, but it doesn't look more comfortable. It's been a long time since I was really slim enough to know how clothes like that feel, but I wouldn't want to start wearing clothes that are significantly less comfortable to appear more fashionable.

I'm probably a good candidate for the tv show "What Not To Wear".

 

[scottish steve]

M80, thanks for that miniclip
I'm not talking about the inexplicable cut that has somehow become acceptable in tv presenters etc. You know the one where they look anorexic, with pinched in jaws and have a jacket which is deliberately rumpled when buttoned? Not the new Dr Who look.
I mean a shirt in which you can actually see the body- where there is just enough tightness to see the chest touching the fabric and the stomach NOT touching the fabric, but the line of the front of the shirt staying flat and vertical. Where the shoulders of the shirt reach the ends of the scapula and immediately become the arms. Where the slack of the collar doesn't start until you reach the the line of the ears. This all looks great. THEN you sit down.

 

[Doc4]

I assume you are talking about button-up shirts, and trying to look more like the guy on the right ...

... than the guy on the left. (Maybe not quite so slim-fit, but sort-of?)

You may have some great opportunities in China to visit a local tailor/shirtmaker and have some shirts made just for you, just how you like them, at prices that you can actually afford. (I am ignorant as to how much small-shop-free-enterprise is to be found throughout China ... if you were in Hong Kong, for example no problem ... is the rest of China similar? Hopefully so.)

Start with one shirt. It'll probably take a few fittings to get it tweaked just right, but once you and your shirtmaker have the pattern down, go to town!






Oh, in searching for images for "untucked shirt" I found this one ... thought I'd share ...

 

[mattnick]

Oh, in searching for images for "untucked shirt" I found this one ... thought I'd share ...

Wow, that is one fine looking shirt!

 

[mark the shoeshine boy]

That would "tucker me out".....

 

[scottish steve]

You're right, Doc, there are suitmakers everywhere. It's just a question of which one I go to. I've been thinking of this for some time and have gone into two establishments. One felt all wrong as soon as I entered- tape-measure out and bolts of cloth in my hand within seconds, no English spoken. It's not their fault I can't speak their language of course but I got a real pressure-sale feel from them and if there's one thing you need to take time over, it's a suit. I visited another place in Shanghai and it was a nice experience; almost what I wanted. But there were some anomalies and wierd things about the examples he showed me- all very well made, but in a strange concoction of styles. I asked if he normally canvassed or fused and he said he did both in the same suit. I don't know what that means. Also there were many details that didn't make sense- like the cuff, which didn't 'work' but also didn't conform to any cut I've seen before- sort of folded in on itself with a gap in the middle. Also Western style shoulders on a linen summer jacket? This might have been the 'fault' of the customer who'd ordered these pieces but I wasn't quite ready to go through the process with him. And he neither had the fabrics I wanted nor was quite as affordable as I'd hoped. It's on the cards though.

 

[StillShaving]

You should not take my fashion advice, but given the number of custom shops near you, if you have the time/patience/budget, I recommend getting one custom fit shirt from a few different places (and try to get their measurements of you for comparison) and suggest that if they do a good job, you will come back and buy more. Surely one of the shops will do a good job and fit you well with quality fabric...assuming they aren't all outsourcing the manufacture to a common backwater shop without a storefront.

 

[scottish steve]

The problem of course is that
a. The Chinese you see on the street generally have other priorities for their heard-earned cash than made-to-measure shirts
so
b. I rarely get to see/meet the new money
who are
c. In black BMWs and generally trying to knock me down at junctions rather than give me fashion advice
and unfortunately
d. seem to be going for Armani and the like to prove how enlightened they are.
I'm not going to give up but don't hold your breath for any pics. (sigh)

 

[closer]

I have no suggestions for where you could go in China, but my advice is to get several shirts in different sizes/cuts and try them out yourself. I recently went through a similar issue where I've lost about 30pounds of weight in about a year. Over the year, I've overhauled my wardrobe twice, and have struggled with the same issue as you - attempting to get a better cut of shirt, but trying to get something that isn't "too close". I believe that it is possible to find a shirt that is comfortable as well as well-fitting, but the only way you will know which one meets both those criteria is to try them all. For example - I've gone recently from wearing Brooks Brothers 16.5"/35" traditional fit (very tent-like), to 16.5/35 slim fit (better, but still big around the neck and sleeves) to 16/34 slim fit (fits much better all around).

If you go through this process with 2-3 brands (different brands have different sizes/cuts for the same neck/sleeve lengths), you will have a much better idea of what fits comfortably for YOU.

Then you can take to the tailor.

 

[john parker]

Steve, I remember that many, many, many years ago in Hong Kong the tailors I visited had pictures of men and women's fashions that the customer could use to provide some guidance. And, though not for shirts, I took a few pictures along myself to illustrate what I wanted. Seemed to work to a reasonable extent. Would think that the places you go would be able to follow that approach. Will admit that at the time I was there, canvas and fusing was not in my vocabulary.