How We Tailor for Different Postures

A person’s posture is one of the most important things to consider when tailoring a suit.  The ability to cut a unique pattern to exactly fit how a person stands is what sets a bespoke suit apart from off-the-peg.  At your consultation, in addition to taking detailed measurements, we look at over twenty ‘figurations’ ranging from the angle of your shoulder to the curve of your back. Here are just some of the areas we concentrate on when creating a suit pattern just for you.

SHOULDERS

The fit on the shoulder comes down to more than just the width of the shoulders.  The angle your shoulders slope varies from person to person, they can sit further forward and, to really make it complex, your left shoulder is not always the same angle as your right. 

A drop in one of the shoulders, where one slopes down at a greater angle than the other, is extremely common. Many of us are right-handed so the right shoulder would be sloped. This causes a problem as the button will not line up with the buttonhole on the front of the jacket causing creasing on the lower side.  Just have a look at yourself in the mirror in an off-the-peg jacket to check.  We would create your pattern  by lowering the angle of the shoulder line on the drop side and padding up the shoulder.

A sloping shoulder is when your shoulders slope at a steeper angle causing creasing on the back of your suit under the arms.

A shoulder that slopes less we call a ‘square shoulder’. It can create creasing below the collar and pull it away from the neck when fastening. For both a sloping or square shoulder we would change the angle of the shoulder line in the pattern, making it higher for square shoulders and lower for sloped shoulders.

BACK

Your suit should hang straight with very minimal creasing, and the shape of your back and how you stand greatly affects this. The alignment of your spine could be affected by your age, work, daily routine, or any health problems. Here are some common postures:

Round back or ‘Stooping’ can be a slight curve in the middle of the back. This can sometimes become more pronounced with age.Depending on the severity of this, it can create an imbalance in the suit jacket where it finishes higher at the back and lower at the front. To create your pattern we would add more length to the back of the suit so it is perfectly ‘in balance’ with the back of the suit being level with the front.

Erect, also known as military stance, as it is mandatory for the members of the military to stand pin straight. The shoulders are often thrown back, which causes the jacket to be shorter at the front and longer at the back.  It may also crease on the sleeves as the arms sit further back. This is the opposite of the round back so we create the pattern with a longer front and commensurately decreased back.

Full or Barrel Chest is similar to the erect/military stance, except to create a pattern for this more cloth is added to the front chest area to allow room for a large chest. This is very prevalent amongst body-builders.

A Sway figure consists of an ‘S’ shaped posture, where the hips, stomach and head are pushed forward, which makes the suit appear tight from the waist down at the front but loose at the back. When creating a pattern we would make the back of the suit smaller whilst adding extra room to the front. The head may often come forward a little and the arms may sit further back so additional amendments to the pattern are made to bring increase the back length and rotate the sleeve pitch back

LEGS & SEAT

The trousers are often prone (if not tailored correctly) to creasing, puckering, pulling and folding. Our aim is to create a clean fit and comfort no matter what the posture of each individual client.

Prominent Seat is someone with a larger backside, which can create unflattering crease lines or rucking at the top of the thigh. When buying off-the-peg, those with a prominent seat, will usually find the trousers that fit in the seat are too large in the waist.  We would fit your trousers perfectly to your waist and then increase both the width of the seat horizontally, so it is comfortable, and vertically, to remove the creasing on the thigh.

Flat Seat is a flat posterior that can cause extra cloth to gather under the waistband or under the seat.. We create your pattern by reducing the cloth both horizontally and vertically to ensure a perfect fit..

If you wear your trousers with the waistband under your stomach at the front, as is fairly common, then the waistband will sit lower at the front than the back. This causes creasing at the front below the waistband and gathering of fabric on the shoe as if the trousers are longer at the front than the back.  When creating a pattern for this we would drop the trousers at the front effectively removing the excess cloth.  We may also recommend a calvary cut trouser which is an angled trouser hem sloping downwards from front to back.

At King & Allen, we understand that every individual is different. A person’s posture affects how we tailor to your specific needs. At consultations and fittings we encourage you to stand as you would normally do. The suit should fit you and your posture, not the other way around.

If you'd like King & Allen to make your perfect suit, please contact us today or arrange an appointment here.