Does your Blazer Fit You? A Guide for Men

How should a Blazer fit? Actually it should fit exactly like a Suit Jacket. Your blazer’s length will determine how balanced your upper body and lower body are. Your blazer should be at the mid- to lower crotch. If you are less than 5ft 9inches tall, the blazer should end at mid-crotch.

Although a tailor can reduce the length of your jacket by up to one inch, they cannot alter its proportions because there is no fabric. This is the most important part of a blazer.

• How long should be the sleeve

When wearing the blazer, bend your wrist so that your palms face the ground. The sleeves should be 1/4″ above your hands. Many people suggest that the sleeves reach the top of your hand. However, that is not true. Your shirt sleeve won’t be visible. This length allows you to see a quarter inch (or 1/4″) of your shirt sleeves. A tailor can fix any sleeves that are too long. If your sleeves are shorter than 1 inch, you can remove the jacket. The sleeves cannot be loosened enough to fit properly.

• Proper shoulders

The shoulder of your blazer should end at your shoulders. Is it correct? They actually should curve down to your arm. There should be no wrinkles or divots on the shoulders. You should have flat shoulders with no rumpling, pulling or divoting. If your shoulders are more rounded, the seam should end in the same spot. You would only need to add a little padding at the shoulders to make them look less rounded. A tailor can’t always fix shoulders that are too large or small. It would be costly – if possible. Also, ensure that the blazer fits correctly when purchasing one from any retailer.

• Body look

The top button should be fastened, not the bottom. The blazer should hug your midsection lightly but not feel constricting. The button should not pull at the blazer, making an ugly “X”. It’s too tight. You can have it made to fit around your stomach/waist. A tailor can adjust the jacket’s sides to ensure it fits correctly. A tailor can do this very easily and it is totally common. It’s better to have a jacket slightly larger than too small for tailoring purposes.

• Position of the collar

Your collar should be positioned against your shirt collar. This collar should then rest against your back. These should all touch lightly without any gaps between. It’s too loose if there is a gap. If the jacket collar is too tight, or if there’s excess bunching under it’s back, the jacket’s stance may be off.

• Proper armholes

They shouldn’t be too high. It’s not cutting into the man’s armpit. The arms should be large enough to not be noticed but not too big that your armpit is visible from the bottom of the hole. The jacket should allow the arms to move in normal motion independently from the jacket’s body, but not too much.

Although we are referring to blazers and motion, many men who have never worn dress clothes before complain about their inability to move more. A blazer isn’t activewear so you shouldn’t be able do all the things you normally do in a blazer. It is not made for this purpose.

• Buttons

The second button on the blazer (aka the top button), should be just above your belly button, and never below. Our rule of thumb: no more than an inch above your belly-button, never below. It will cause your body to look odd and it will also affect your proportions.