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PROPORTION
RELATIO N TO TH E ARM:
..JACKET LENGT11 IN
.JACKET'S BOTTOM
THUMB KNUCKLE.
' •
SHOULD LINE UP WITH
·barter leg ]j ne. In the illustration on the previous page, examine the length of the jacket and irs
diminishing effect on the man's leg line.
1\~o methods for determining the correct jacket length originated '"'ith America's development
of ready-made men's clothing, which needed general guidelines upon which ro establish
lts standards of fit. T he first employs the arm as a guide; when your h~t.nd is dropped at your side.
the bottom of the jacket is uppo ·ed to line up with the outstretched thumb (above lifi). Though
generally reliable. this formula has one drawback: arm length vari.es from person to person.
T he second approach (previous pag~ measures the distance from the jacket's back collar
(at the pointvvhere it joins t be coat's body) to t be1ioor. vvJ1id1 Ls t he n divided in half This is the
procedure taught in most tailoring schools. Either of these two approaches can be influenced by
dimensions unique to the wearer; a top tailor will use neither. trusting his practiced eye to take
in the whole picn.u·e before deciding on the jacket's ideal length.
THE WAIST BUTT 0 N T he '"'aist button is to a suit jacket what the fulcrum is to a seesaw.
If incorrectly positioned. a delicate balance is lost, calling the garment's pedigree into
immediate question. The button functions as an axis: raise it too much. and the torso become
abbreviated: lower it too much, and the torso is elongated at the expense of a longer leg line.
vVhen the waist button of a coat is fastened. it should di\'ide the body so that the torso
and legs appear at maximum length. Observe the navy suit's elegant silhot.tette by following the