Continuing on with our Garment Doctor Series…

The first image here illustrates how a pair of trousers should fit.

Notice how the fabric is draping smoothly, with no breaking, and the lines are clean and streamlined.

A common issue with men’s trousers is pocket flare, which is often accompanied by wrinkles across the front hips.

Pocket Flare

This can be caused by a number of different factors. Typically, it means the pants are tight across the hips/seat, causing the pockets to pull open. If you don’t have any of the other symptoms shown here, simply letting-out the hips will help the pockets sit flat.

In other cases, the pocket flare (and front wrinkles/crunching) are caused by an athletic seat (high, prominent glutes) and/or a tilted pelvis. For example, all I’m doing differently in this second photo is subtly flexing/pushing up my seat and tilting my hips backward – you can see the dramatic effect on the drape of the pants.

Some guys have naturally strong seats and slightly tilted hips, which makes it difficult to achieve clean-looking pants off-the-rack. If you’re prone to these issues, you would benefit from bespoke trousers. As a cheaper alternative, seek out trousers that have set-forward or western-style pockets: if they’re not constructed on the side seam they will not pull open as easily.

Also, this highlights the importance of trying-on multiple brands before purchasing. Some fits and fabrics will inevitably drape better on your body than others.

Wrinkling under front waistband

Most often, wrinkles under the front waistband are caused by a low stomach bulge, physically pushing down on the front of the waistband. A loose waistband will only accentuate these wrinkles – so have the waist taken-in so your trousers sit snugly in place.

Obviously, a flat stomach helps trousers drape cleanly. If losing a few pounds is not in the cards, I suggest having your tailor trim down the front waistband so the pants sit comfortably under the gut – or go the opposite route and use braces to “float” your natural waist.

Tilted Hip “Crunching”

This pooling of fabric around the upper thighs/crotch is another symptom of a tilted-back pelvis. It’s very difficult to get rid of this, so try avoiding it by finding a trouser that better suits your specific needs.

In one case, I had a client/friend who was tired of this issue and asked his chiropractor about it. Apparently his posture was putting unhealthy pressure on his lower spine. He ended up solving all the issues above with some routine stretches and an exercise plan that focused on straightening and strengthening the lower spine and pelvis. He’s never felt more athletic and energized, and his pants have never looked so good.

Remember, more often than not, the breaking in your clothes is telling you something about your body.

Yours in style,

Dan & TSBmen

Continuing with our Garment Doctor series.

For comparison, the photo directly below shows how a properly-fitting tailored jacket should look in a standing, natural position (in my opinion). Notice the fabric is draping cleanly across the body, providing full three-dimensional coverage without any visible pulling, creasing or wrinkling.

Common issue: Jacket collar gap.

This particular fit issue is a personal pet peeve of mine. A collar sitting off the neck can make even the most beautiful suit look sloppy.

The Cause

A collar gap can be caused by a number of factors (hence the * on the image above). Most commonly, the jacket collar is too large for the circumference of the neck, although this can also be caused by square shoulders, head-forward posture, arms-back stance, a short neck, a large front chest, or any combination of these body characteristics.

As I mentioned before, everybody is unique and every body has it’s own set of variables. This is why becoming a master bespoke tailor is a lifelong pursuit – they’re engineers who use complex geometry to work two-dimensional fabric around the laws of physics, gravity, and the intricacies of the human body.

The Fix

A bespoke suit should be cut for your neck size, posture, stance, shoulder slope, etc. so you shouldn’t have this problem.

Off-the-rack, my advice is to avoid this issue at all costs. Don’t assume your tailor can fix it – this is a very difficult issue to fix on an already-made jacket. A tailor can remove and recut the collar, but this is major surgery and most of the time it’s not 100% effective.

My advice is to try-on as many brands as possible before purchasing an off-the-rack suit. For example, even though they can be similar in price, a suit from Brooks Brothers does not fit the same as a suit from JCrew, and neither fit the same as a suit from Suit Supply. Even within these brands, there are different “cuts” – find the one that is best suited for your individual body.

Most importantly, when shopping for an off-the-rack suit, ensure these key areas fit properly:

1. The collar and upper back sit properly on the neck.
2. The shoulders are fitted but not tight or restrictive.
3. The chest has full coverage and the lapels are laying flat.
4. The body length is correct, hitting just below the cup of the seat.
5. The sleeve length is close (especially if it has working buttonholes).

For the most part, the rest can be adjusted by a good tailor.

Yours in style,

Dan Trepanier

If you have a problem with “billowy” shirt fabric at the lower back, there is a very simple solution. Add back darts to your shirts.

If your tailor only takes-in the side seams, he has to make the front and back slimmer by equal measures. Problem is, most guys have a flat or convex (curved-out) front stomach but a concave (curved-in/hollow) lower back.

Therefore, even with a shirt that has been taken-in at the sides, there can be annoying extra fabric billowing at the lower back.

See here:

Back darts are two simple straight seams, sewn from the inside, that turn this extra fabric inside-out.

This allows the shirt to follow the natural curve of your back, creating a much more flattering silhouette.

See here:

I have darts on 95% of my shirts, and I sew them myself. It’s very easy to learn.

It’s a five minute alteration that can make a huge difference.

Yours in style,

Dan & the TSB crew

I’ve been studying fine tailoring, meticulously, for years.

I graduated from the menswear pattern-making and design program at NYC’s Fashion Institute of Technology, I managed the measuring and fitting at one of the city’s premiere bespoke clothiers, and I’ve worked with master tailors in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Throughout this process, the first thing that struck me was how little the average guy knows about clothing manufacturing, even those who are obsessed with “proper fit”.

Therefore, I’m starting this on-going segment on TSB Daily called the “Garment Doctor Series” where I will try to break-down common fit issues in a practical, straight-forward manner for our readers. Throughout this series we will discuss “proper fit” and highlight common tailoring issues along with their causes, symptoms and, ultimately, remedies.

To begin, the photo directly below shows how a properly-fitting suit should look in a standing, natural position (in my opinion). Notice the fabric is drapping cleanly across the body, providing full three-dimensional coverage without any visible pulling, creasing or wrinkling.

Common Issue: side “crunching” caused by a low shoulder.

Everybody is unique and every body is uneven in some way. This is why becoming a master bespoke tailor is a lifelong pursuit – they’re engineers who use complex geometry to work two-dimensional fabric around the laws of physics and gravity.

Most of us have one shoulder that sits physically lower than the other (this can be caused by genetics, injuries, overusing one side of the body, carrying an unbalanced load routinely, etc).

If the jacket is not properly cut for uneven shoulder slope, the following can occur:

The fix: there are two possible fixes to this issue.

1. Cutting down the low shoulder to accurately follow the slope of the body. This is major surgery. It involves removing the sleeve, seperating the front and back panels, and recutting the shoulder lines. You’re looking at probably $100+ in alteration charges – if your tailor even offers this service.

2. Add minimal padding to “lift” the low shoulder. When some guys hear the words shoulder padding they freak-out because of the current obsession with the “soft shoulder”. Keep in mind that padding will not make the point-to-point of the shoulders any wider. It will simply balance out your right and left slopes for better symmetry and smoothen out the “crunching”. This is a much easier fix for the tailor. He simply trims and fits the pad as needed, opens up the jacket lining beneath the shoulder and sets the pad in place. He may also need to move the front button a fraction, since the panels might shift as a result of the new pad.

I hope some of you found this helpful. My intentions are not to have guys running to the tailor to fix every little wrinkle (life is all about trade-offs), I simply want to share what I’ve learned about tailoring and alterations to help guys understand what is possible and what isn’t.

More garment issues and alteration suggestions to come.

Yours in style,

Dan Trepanier