Above The Ankles

It’s important to know that suits that are readily available in retail stores, like the ones I post on here or the ones you find on the high-street, they are made in their thousands and the suit size is based on the “normal” size human. What’s considered normal? I don’t have a clue but I know I haven’t been “normal” or been able to wear a suit straight off the rack since I was nineteen years old. I play football and cycle a lot so below my waist is much larger than “normal” meaning none of the trousers off the rack will fit me. Suit jackets off the rack fit me fine.

Tailor Made

Let’s get down to it, if you cant find a suit that fits you, what do you? If you can afford to have a tailor design a suit for you from nothing, usually costing around £600 for the entire suit – then you need not worry, the suit will fit you perfectly. Most of us, myself included cannot afford to be buying tailor-made suits.

A good friend of mine messaged me this morning this same question. He’s super slim and 6″5 in height, you can imagine his struggles.

Retail & Tailor Combined – The Perfect Suit Size

The Perfect Suit Size

The best thing to do is to combine between buying from the retailers for cheap and then spending another £15-£50 at your local tailors to get them to readjust the suit to fit you. I advise you to always buy the suit in a larger size and then you’re tailor will have an easy job removing the excess fabric.

If you are in doubt, go into the tailors without a suit, get them to measure you and tell them your intentions of buying an off the rack suit and getting it cut. They’ll tell you what jacket and trouser size to go for and you can work from there.

My Preferences

My budget for a suit is usually around the £150 mark. For me anything above that is pushing it and anything below that is a bit too cheap and tacky. My favourite store at the moment for suits is Mark’s & Spencer’s, their suits are usually made really well and they have a MASSIVE range of sizes so it becomes easy for me to find a suit that fits perfectly in the jacket. Then my tailor charges me £25 to get the trousers tapered in and turned up above my ankles.

All of those blessed enough to live in hot countries, can get away with wearing their blazers throughout the year. Those of us that have to grow our hair for a few months just to have some extra insulation, know all about wrapping up this time of the year. The cold in the UK is no joke, and wrapping up is essential, but so is looking good.

The Perfect Winter Coat

Most of us don’t give a monkey’s about comfort, we just want to look great. With winter in full effect, and every other day the rain beating down on my hairless head, there shouldn’t be a doubt in anyone’s mind that for you to look great this season it’s all about the coat you wear. There are many different types, some will suit you perfectly and others you may look out of place. Regardless of the type of coat, the most important thing you need to get right is the combination of three;

– Fit
– Warmth
– Style

Fit

Having a coat that fits, is imperative. Its the same with all outer garments. When out shopping we sometimes fall too deeply in love with something and are willing to sacrifice how well it fits. This is pretty much always a bad idea. If you’ve tried on both the Medium & Small and they’re not quite working for you, as much as it hurts – move on. We’ve all been there, trying to force our way into an item we love, then a week later we end up hating it. Be patient.

Warmth

Now the coat fits, you need to make sure it’s actually worth wearing. No point wearing a thin layered coat that won’t keep you warm or dry. Get yourself a nice thick jacket that will be your saviour on that rainy day, so when you get back in from lunch you won’t have to sit at your desk dripping wet. Not only that but who wants to get ill?

Style

Realistically, we are all here to look good, if the jacket keeps you warm and dry and fits well but looks like it belonged to your grandmother – eww. I recommend two coats this winter; the bomber jacket and the trench coat.

Undoubtedly trench coats are the way forward this season. They cover your top-half as well as most of your bottom, so if you ever get caught in the rain, your coat will bear the brunt of it. The wool trench coats will keep you warm from the blistering winds, plus most come with added fur for that extra softness. They go perfectly well with the office look and will set you levels above the rest. A good trench coat should cost around £100, while the more designer ones are upwards of £500.

Bomber jackets are fantastic for the casual look, the days I wear chinos and a shirt, I usually complete the look with one of my Zara bomber jackets. Most bomber jackets will keep you dry through light rain but once the amazon showers start, you’re likely to get soaked. You’ll pick up a good bomber jacket for around £50.

A great winter coat, should keep you dry, warm and make you look fantastic. Don’t compromise, spend a little more, you’ll thank yourself in February when you’re standing in the snow.

You cannot make a mistake when it comes to style, style is who you are and what you choose to do with your clothes, so feel free to express yourself in anyway you see fit. However, when it comes to fashion there are MANY mistakes and I mean MANY. Some of the well known “fashion mistakes” I disagree with and this is evident in my own style. There are on the other hand some mistakes you can’t afford to make.

Two of which I have seen today and want to try and hopefully prevent you from doing them.

1. Badly Fitted Clothes

Badly fitted suits are horrible, whether they’re too baggy or too tight. Clothes should make you feel comfortable and look good. If you’re uncomfortable, your clothes are probably too tight. If you feel like you’re in bed, your clothes are way to big.

I saw some incredibly baggy clothes today. They looked like they were handed down through the generations. I remember when I went to my first interview, I wore my dad’s suit and oh my God, I looked horrible and everyone could tell.

If you find it difficult finding clothes that fit you properly, then either branch out of your comfort zone and try out new stores or build a great relationship with your nearest tailor. You’ll be surprised what tailor’s can do.

2. Short Sleeves With A Tie

Fast food restaurants want their managers to look the part so they ask them to wear ties. Obviously they can’t wear a tie without a shirt so they get them to wear a shirt. The problem arises when you have someone wearing a shirt, getting sauce and oil all over their sleeves. Which obviously leads to this short sleeve/tie combo we see today.

Now unless you’re a manager in a fast food restaurant, why would you ever wear a short sleeve shirt with a tie? Please don’t. The short sleeve/tie combo is associated with low paying jobs and unless that’s the look you’re going for, avoid it.

If reading the title confused you a little then good, it confused me the first time someone said it to me. Thankfully it’s pretty basic and once I explain it, you’ll just do it subconsciously. If you have been wearing suits awhile – you may already be doing it.

The size of your tie’s knot should be in proportion to the size of your collar and vice versa. In layman’s terms; big & thick ties for large collars and skinny/thin ties for small collars.

The style in which you choose to tie your tie matters. I haven’t worn my tie in any other way except a full Windsor for over five years. I find it perfect for me as when I choose to wear a tight fitted shirt with small collars and a tie bar, my skinny tie and Windsor knot looks fantastic. Equally as fantastic are my TM Lewin big wide collar shirts with my thick standard ties in a Windsor knot. However, I have seen some people doing some crazy knots, making patterns out of it all, this is fine if it suits you but make sure that you haven’t wrapped your tie around your knot 15 times on a shirt with small collars.

If you are unsure as to whether your tie’s knot will be big or small then simply look at the width of your tie. The more material in the tie the larger your tie knot will be.