Jackets--North of St.Andrews sale

[Chef]

Jackets can be made larger and can be made smaller.

Most of the time I would agree with you, but it is limited by the amount of "excess" material. Less expensive garments in particular may not have the necessary material to make the adjustments you need. It is usually is only a good idea to buy a garment you need to make larger if you can try it on before you buy it and assess whether or not the adjustments can be done. I personally wouldn't buy something that needs to be shipped to me assuming that I can make it larger.

If you are a 42Reg then I'd order a 42Reg. English sizes and U.S. sizes are the same. Italian too.

Actually as some one who's wardrobe is bought half in the US and half in the UK I will respectfully disagree with you on this point. Vanity sizing is, I believe, much more prevalent in the US than it is elsewhere. True Italian sizes are metric so I can't compare them so I'll stick with the US and UK.

You are absolutely right about the waist sizes being larger on US jackets but that isn't the reason UK sizes don't fit the same on me (I always need to have the waist taken in on US jackets and usually on UK jackets). To fit across my chest and back I take a 42 - 44 in the US and a 44 - 46 in the UK. My actual measurement is about 44 1/2.

I think this is the vanity sizing that there has been many articles on over the last decade. As an example I'll bet that almost everyone on this forum (who still occasionally wears pants) buys pants that is sized at least 2" less than their actual waist size (assuming they have actually measured their waist lately).

As far as British or Italian makes being brought to the US and sold here I don't think they can be used for comparison since they are labeled for the US market.

[auld argonian]

Oh well....my offer was declined (guess thses jackets weren't so "shopworn" after all, eh?) so the point is now moot. With all the doubts about the sizing, I consider it something of a narrow escape.

Still, I guess that I don't get the whole thing about these sizes...if you measure your chest and it's 42 inches, what does that mean? Granted that there's long, regular and short tagged onto that 42 and you would choose the one that fit...and a tailor could fine tune the thing for you...but who's lying about the sizes and to what exact end? US sizes aren't accurate which way...up or down? Is this to make smaller guys feel bigger or big guys feel smaller? The waist thing I can understand....if that number gets larger as you age then you're gaining weight and nobody wants that...but why jigger with the jacket sizes? Why isn't a 42 a 42 in whatever country that it's sold in and if it isn't then it's marked incorrectly and somebody is...well, basically...bullsh*tting you?

Best

AA

[RockyR]

Another "Hard and fast" rule to measure... The way that "After Hours" (a tux rental place) sizes you is like this:

take the chest measurement at the widest part of the chest and add 2". Write that # down.

Take the measurement around the chest AND ARMS at the same spot (the widest point) and subtract 6". Write that # down.

Those numbers should be BASICALLY the same thing. If they're not, take the bigger of the 2 numbers and that's your jacket size.

Is it custom or tailored? No. Is it going to be pretty much accurate (for your AMERICAN Tux size) Yes. For a Kilt Jacket, I'd sugest the +4 / -4 method as opposed to the +2 / -6 method.

[Nanook]

Still, I guess that I don't get the whole thing about these sizes...if you measure your chest and it's 42 inches, what does that mean?

It means that you measured your chest and read 42 inches.

Why isn't a 42 a 42 in whatever country that it's sold in

It is. The question is, of course, one of style and design. I don't accept this stuff about American makers. A lot, granted, of the ready-to-wear lines are set for a bit more of a belly and rear but not all. Not everyone in the US is obese. While the majority are either obese or overweight its also the land of "Size 0" and "Sub-Size-Zero" culture, human growth hormones and liposuction. I should also point out that Scotland is not a slim nation these days with nearly 1/2 of all adult men considered overweight and a good 1/7 men are held to be obese.