{"id":18940,"date":"2026-07-08T09:20:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T07:20:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/feineherr.de\/how-a-suit-should-fit\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T14:27:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T12:27:26","slug":"how-a-suit-should-fit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/feineherr.de\/en\/how-a-suit-should-fit\/","title":{"rendered":"How a Suit Should Fit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Too long or too short? Many men are unsure even about the right length of a jacket sleeve, and salespeople do not always give the correct answer either. Here is how it all should fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A suit is only ever as good as the way it sits. The finest cloth is worthless if the sleeves are too long, the overall length is wrong and the trouser legs collapse into concertina folds. A man who does not know how a suit should sit has to rely on good advice when he buys. Unfortunately, genuinely competent salespeople are rare; classic clothing is seldom a focus during their training. Anyone who knows the basic rules himself becomes independent of that advice and can judge quickly, even with a bargain, whether a purchase is worth it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Size first, then fit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fit begins with choosing the right off-the-peg size. In the German system that size is based on the chest measurement: the chest in centimetres divided by two gives the size. A 100 cm chest means a size 50, but only if your height fits the grid too, which for a size 50 runs between 1.74 m and 1.79 m. A man who is shorter at the same chest needs the so-called “stocky” size 25 (50 ÷ 2 = 25); one who is taller than 1.79 m needs a 98 or 102. Then there are the “belly sizes,” which come into play when the waist is fuller than the chest; at a 100 cm chest that would be a size 51. English and American sizing is simpler in its labelling: every size carries an R, S or L for regular, short or long. Our size 50 corresponds to a 40 in Britain or the US, so a 40R is our normal 50, a 40L resembles our 98 or 102, and a 40S our short size 25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knowing your off-the-peg size is an important first step. Otherwise the salesperson can find it easily by measuring your chest, and experienced professionals can judge it by eye. Correct size is no guarantee of a good fit, though. One maker’s 50 is cut differently from another’s. German suits tend to run large, Italian suits small, so a man who takes a German 48 will usually need a 50 in Italy. Broadly, the off-the-peg size is a good starting point. It becomes difficult when the chest is disproportionately larger than the waist: men with a bodybuilder’s build have trouble buying a suit, because once the chest has enough room the jacket is usually far too long. Slim men are best served by ready-to-wear, as are men with a belly; strength athletes, by contrast, tend to need made-to-measure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you have found the right size and put the suit on, look at the fit in detail. That calls for a large mirror with hinged side panels, or a fitting room mirrored all the way round. Start with the overall length of the jacket. It is correct when the seat is covered and the fastening button sits on or just above the navel, which by the golden ratio is the optical centre of the body. The position of the pockets and buttonholes is set in relation to that length; change it and the pockets and buttons sit too high or too low. You will sometimes be told to curl your fingers around the hem with your arms hanging down: if the hem lands in your curled fingers, the jacket is said to be the right length. Be careful, though, because with very long arms it does not work. There is also an arithmetic method: height in centimetres minus 100. At 180 cm the jacket would be 80 cm long, measured down the back from the base of the collar. Many buyers would find that too long today; jackets are currently cut shorter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Comparison
Seen from behind, the jacket must cover the seat completely, without drag lines. (On the photo, \u201cfalsch\u201d = wrong, \u201crichtig\u201d = right.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Collar, back, shoulder<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now check the fit at the collar, back and shoulders. The collar should hug the neck closely; if it does not, put another suit on your shortlist, because collar alterations are relatively complicated. The notorious collar roll, by contrast, is easily fixed. It appears when the cloth below the collar pushes up horizontally into a crease. Across the back the cloth must lie smooth, while behind the arms a small reserve of cloth should be visible; without it the wearer could not move his arms forward, which is why it is called the “movement fold.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Comparison
The collar should sit close. When the cloth pushes up horizontally beneath it, you get the notorious collar roll. (On the photo, \u201cfalsch\u201d = wrong, \u201crichtig\u201d = right.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Wrong:
Wrong: puckering forms at the sleeve head under the arm, a sign of a badly cut armhole. (The photo is labelled \u201cfalsch\u201d = wrong.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The waist and the fastening<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To see whether the jacket has the right width at the waist, button it and pull gently on the button. If it swings two to three centimetres forward the waist is right; more play than that and it is too wide, which is corrected by taking cloth out of the side seams. Waist suppression is also a matter of style and feel. Personally I go by whether I can close the jacket effortlessly yet still feel that it is closed. Many men confuse a tailored fit with extreme tightness at the waist. When the jacket strains over the stomach and the side vents gape, it is simply too tight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Wrong:
Wrong: the button pulls the cloth together in the middle and X-shaped tension lines appear; the jacket is too tight. (Labelled \u201cfalsch\u201d = wrong.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The right sleeve length<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The right sleeve length is essential to the overall impression of the jacket. Sleeves that end at the knuckles make the whole thing look too big; too short and it looks too small. The length is correct when the shirt shows, half a centimetre to a few centimetres depending on taste and height. On an ordinary off-the-peg suit it is easy to shorten or lengthen the sleeves: the alterations tailor removes the buttons at the cuff, shortens or lengthens, and sews them back on in the new position. On suits with working cuffs this is not possible, since the buttonholes cannot be moved, which is why only made-to-measure jackets should have the cuff buttonholes cut open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Comparison
The right sleeve length lies between the two extremes: the hand does not disappear into the sleeve, nor does too much shirt show. (On the photo, \u201czu lang\u201d = too long, \u201crichtig\u201d = right, \u201czu kurz\u201d = too short.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The trousers: waistband and seat<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With trousers it is about felt comfort and the right visual line. At the waistband the trousers should sit so that they do not slip without a belt, but not so tightly that they pinch (so do not go shopping on a full stomach). Trousers should not have to be taken in by more than one size, or the back pockets end up too close to the centre seam. The width of the trouser leg matters greatly to the overall impression, yet few men know it can be corrected without difficulty. Alterations are measured at the hem, which is why work on the leg width is often described in terms of the “hem width.” On a slim tube trouser without pleats (size 50) the hem width is about 20 cm; with pleats, about 22 to 25 cm. Alterations tailors run the tape right around the leg, so they quote the doubled figure. Short, stocky men do better to avoid very wide trousers, which foreshorten the figure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hem width is best altered together with the overall length. Good trousers are not yet hemmed when they go on sale, so the length can be matched exactly to the customer. If you are unsure whether the suit looks better with or without turn-ups, order it with turn-ups first; you can always remove them later. Once you have decided on a plain finish, the “inlay” (the cloth folded inward) is often not enough to conjure turn-ups from. The heel tape on the inside of the hem is dispensable; the synthetic kind can even scratch the shoe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trouser length<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Trouser length depends on the cut. Wider models are worn longer, tube trousers shorter. Wider trousers should break gently once on the instep. At the back the hem ends somewhere between the middle of the heel counter and the top of the heel itself. Many salespeople claim trousers should reach the middle of the heel, but that is too long. Slim-cut trousers are worn shorter: they touch down a little at the front and at the back reach over the edge of the shoe or meet the middle of the heel counter. It often helps to have the hem slanted, making the leg shorter at the front than at the back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Comparison
The trousers should show only a light break at the hem. Too much reserve bunches up on the shoe. (On the photo, \u201cfalsch\u201d = wrong, \u201crichtig\u201d = right.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to Anton Meyer<\/a> in Hamburg and to Lucas Arvid Juckel for modelling.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How long should a jacket sleeve be? How high should the trousers sit? Bernhard Roetzel explains the basic rules of a good fit, from off-the-peg sizing to the belly cut and the right trouser length.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[348,413],"tags":[790],"class_list":["post-18940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-suits","category-tailor","tag-guides"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/feineherr.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/feineherr.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/feineherr.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feineherr.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feineherr.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18940"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/feineherr.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18940\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18946,"href":"https:\/\/feineherr.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18940\/revisions\/18946"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feineherr.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/feineherr.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feineherr.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feineherr.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}