Waistcoat fit

[creagdhubh]

Interesting replies. I have to agree with all who state that tailored or form-fitted clothing always looks better. I started making that transition some time ago, slowly phasing out all the "off the rack" clothes in my wardrobe with ones that are more suited to my body shape.

I'm not exactly skinny, and have a bit of a 'pudge factor' to my belly, but all the regular shirts I find at most clothing stores are WAY too large in the stomach. They may fit me in the neck, arm length, shoulders, and even the chest. But the middle section is always too large, as if the "standard" cut of shirts these days is for morbidly obese people. I've had to go to wearing slim-fitting shirts that are tapered just to make them fit me well. It's annoying, having my shirt pooching out all around me because it's too large in the belly.

Anyway, I brought this up about waistcoats, but it definitely applies to everything else. Clothes just seem way too baggy and loose these days. I can't really blame it on the "off the rack" sizing scheme. I think it has more to do with the fact that style has changed over the last couple of decades, whether we intended it to or not. People seem to be more interested in comfort and covering up their expanding middle sections. Snug-fitting clothing may look better, but it's not always the most comfortable. And to many, comfort is king (which is why we see people wearing jogging pants and house shoes in public!). And I think by this point, even when people want to look nice, they forget that clothes which look best are not necessarily going to be "comfy". At least, not in the sense that they will hang loosely and offer complete relaxation like a pair of baggy elastic-waist shorts and an untucked t-shirt.

I'll admit that when I'm wearing well-fitted clothing, I have to be a little more self-conscious about my posture. Instead of letting my stomach pooch out and stress the buttons on a shirt or waistcoat, I find myself sitting more erect and, well, sucking in my gut a little.

Well said, Tobus! I couldn't agree more. Many of 'us' are truly a dying breed.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

And in case any get the wrong impression, I will point out too that the reason our anscestors of old wore made-to-measure clothing rather than "off the peg" was not that they had more expendible income than we do today. Far from it!

Rather, that was simply how one obtained clothing. Your clothes were made for you, either by yourself, someone in your family, or a local village tailor. The idea of mass-producing clothing in a factory environment is a modern concept.

[creagdhubh]

Exactly right, Matt! Good point.

[Ryan Ross]

Ryan, if you are considering having a shirt made-to-measure, unless you have someone local to do it for you, may I suggest here:
http://www.shirtsyourway.org/

Proceeds from there benefit the museum!

Thanks Matt! I'll take a look.

creagdhubh: your arms are too far back. bring them forward of your head, you should be able to see your arms.

Ouch... SMACKDOWN!!!

[creagdhubh]

One of the few custom sewing projects that I did for another person was shirtmaking. That was for the ex (and no, I'm not taking applicants for the position...) It's been 4.5yrs since we separated and I know he's still wearing the shirts I made him because of the fit and fabric I used. It's relatively easy to alter a good shirt pattern for neck, bicep, back, chest, waist and arm length. If anyone were interested in sewing their own shirts, I highly recommend the book 'Shirtmaking' by David Page Coffin. He also has a dvd on this subject.

creagdhubh: your arms are too far back. bring them forward of your head, you should be able to see your arms.

Cheers, Dixiecat!

Thanks for the advice. I am far more precise with my Highland dancing, now that I have been dancing and taking lessons for almost 6 years. Those photos were taken when I first began taking lessons (quite 'green') from retired dancer, and instructor Sandra Brown of Edinburgh, and later, of Saint Louis, Missouri - she still teaches Highland dance in the Saint Louis area - I was her only male student!

I would never wear 'hard-soled' shoes, especially my Loakes as pictured, whilst dancing nowadays - way too stiff! I obviously wear dance ghillies, which as you are aware, are designed to absorb the impact of the detailed footwork in which many Highland dances require. If I happen to be in hard-soled shoes whilst in Highland dress, and I am encouraged (usually by my wife, or my good mate who's a fantastic, solo-piper) to dance an impromptu fling, or whatever, then I would take off my shoes and dance in my kilt hose, rather than subject my feet to such superfuous fatigue, and my shoes to unnecessary and quite preventable wrinkles.

Cheers,

[creagdhubh]

Kyle, nice photos of the waistcoat in action! They do fit you well - no riding up when you raise your arms and no gapping in the armholes at the back.

Thanks mate!