Making Sense about
Mens Suits Details

Knowing about mens suits details and playing around with it can create a man’s individuality and personality. If coupled with the right mens suits fabric, it can definitely make any men stand out in their suit.

Let’s go through the various details before showing you how to play around with it especially when you are getting your suit tailored made.

The buttons and button holes are good places to inspect the quality of stitch. There should be several rounds of stitch at the button holes without uneven finishes.

As a note, hand-stitching is the best but its finish is usually uneven compared to machine-stitch.

An interesting stitching called pic or pick stitching has been used on suits. It threads the outlines on certain areas of the suits.

These stitching are clearly visible even using the same color as the suit. It can be hand-stitched or machine stitched but the latter can still give a feel of hand-stitching finish.

The lining helps to avoid contact of these seams and fuses from the body as well as cover up these unsightly sewings. Mens suits can be “fully lined” (i.e. line 3/8 of the suit jacket) or “partially lined” (i.e. ½ suit lining).

Your choice for suit linings should be rayon, Cupro Bemberg, or silk since they provide a smooth and silky feel.

One of the important mens suits details about lining is to avoid it sagging below the suit. A well finished lining should be firm and short of the edge of the suit.

Suit collars extending to the front part of the chest area are known as lapels. Lapels and collars are widely modified mens suits details during different decades.

For example the sixties have much thinner lapels and seventies have much wider ones.

Standard lapel width should be 3 to 4 inches. Most importantly, it should be proportionate to the overall size of the mens suit as well as the distance between the chests to the shoulder.

Lapels have to fall flat on your chest. They should not buckle or bunch up. In general, lapels should have the end tip about halfway between the suit’s top sleeve and collar.

A popular tailoring for pockets is the besom. It is an inset pocket sewn inside the garment with access through a narrow welted slit-type opening.

Generally there are three types of pockets on suits.

• Slit pockets are as its name represents a slit style which gives a clean finish on the suit’s hip area. Usually the slit pockets are jetted at the opening of the pockets. It can be double desomed as well to have two welt or jetting at the top and bottom of the pocket opening.
• Flap pockets are additional fabric on covering the outside of the pocket opening.
  
  
• A high quality pocket which allows both a slit pocket and flap pocket. It is required to be double-besomed so that it becomes a slit pocket when the flap is inserted into the pocket. It gives alternate looks on a single suit.

Vent has an important role in mens suits details. Without a vent, it can cause the suit to crumble and feel tight at the hip area. Vents should have the one of the flaps overlap the other by about ¾ inch and not reveal the pants through it. There are 3 types of vents to choose from:

• Single vents: The slit opening is at the center lower back of the suit. This is a typical look found among American-style suit. It creates an illusion of a slimmer torso for men. However, the downside is that it can shorten the man’s body and create a stiff look.

• Double vents: Hallmark in English-style mens suits details, these vents are cut symmetrically on both sides of the hip area of the suit. It provides more freedom of movement than single vents. It also emphasizes the lines of the body. The disadvantage of having this style is mainly for men with wide hips as it can accentuate the width of that area further.

• Ventless: Having no vents on a suit can hinder movement like raising your arm or restrictive like sitting on a soft sofa.

  Still many men have taken liking for ventless suits for its clean finish and modern look. It is more suitable for slimmer man since it hugs closer to the body.

Therefore, it has the highest likelihood of breaking into two for low quality buttons or dropping off if not properly sewn onto the suit.

Let’s breakdown a few important points about for buttons as part of mens suits details:

• Try to avoid plastic buttons. Go for natural horn, pearl, or bone buttons. Other available types of buttons include mother-of-pearl, metal, or ceramics.

• Ensure that they are securely fastened. This does not mean the buttons are tightly sewn onto the suit. There should be some flexibility in the movement of the buttons but not hang from the suit or fall off easily when tugged.

• Good sewing workmanship uses good amount of thread to secure the buttons and yet finish it cleanly without any loose threads on both buttons and button holes.

• Check that the closure is tight when buttoned. There should not be puckering of fabrics around the fastened buttons. Such puckering would mean unleveled sewing of buttons and button holes.

Most suits have padding and the thickness of should pads depends greatly on the men’s shoulder and body shape.

Heavy padding will not be suitable for men with wide broad shoulders; otherwise, it will make them look more like football players.

Slightly thicker shoulder pads would be suitable for slope shoulder men to make the suit look leveled.

The armholes should be wide enough for easier movement of arms and ensure the bottom armholes are not tightly pressing into your armpits.

Sleeves are pretty standard in mens suits details base on its designs and length. An important advice about sleeves is they should end at about ½ to ¼ inch before the dress shirt cuffs worn within.

Most likely the sleeve will end at mid-point of your wrist bone. This criteria needs to have the arms resting at the sides.

The rise (portion between crotch to waistband) is important to take note as well. Ensure that the length of the rise complements your height. Taller men will suit higher rise while shorter men should settle for lower rise.

There are 3 types of pleats to choose from: single pleat, double pleat, and pleatless flat front. You can also choose either to have the usual pleats or inverted pleats.

Now the in-fashion style in mens suits details is having pleatless flat front pants. It gives a very clean and smooth look.

Cuffs are upward folds made at the end of the pants. It is recommended that your cuffs be 1½ - 1¾ inch wide depending on the men’s overall size.

Generally pants cuffs look better on taller man. There is a tendency to make shorter man look even shorter with cuff pants. Make sure the cuff at the pants end fall with ease without too much gather.

Other Mens Suits References:

Fabrics for Men's Suits

The Right Fit for Suits

Caring for your Suits

Buying Suits for Mens Wardrobe

Web Mens Fashion Tips