And those are the basics. Additionally, you could have the pant legs and/or the sleeves slimmed, but that starts to get more invasive. Remember, even more fitted suits are made with the assumption that adjustments will happen after the purchase, so don’t be afraid to have a tailor make that new suit your suit. 

Also Related: The Best Suits under $500 – Four Brands that Deliver

Good fabrics. Good fits. Under $500. Suiting up on a reasonable budget.

J. Crew Unconstructed Washed Linen Sportcoat – $218.00

Hang out for a sale. With a 30% off code, these drop to a still pricey but more palatable $152.60

J. Crew sells two kinds of blazers/sportcoats; those with measured chest sizes (like 38R, 40S, 42L, etc…) and the more casual variety that comes in Small, Medium, Large, etc. The problem is, if you’re in-between those non-measured sizes, you might end up with a tailoring challenge on your hand.

A project even.

If you’re a blazer addict, finding a casual, rumpled blazer for summer ain’t easy. There’s the light grey Merona Kensington, but say you wanted something softer. The washed, Baird McNutt Linen sportcoat is pricey, but it’s all linen instead of cotton chino. Yet it’s not offered in measured chest sizes.

This is a Medium, which on J. Crew’s website fits between a 38-40 chest. The 38 Ludlow suit jacket fits my frame perfectly, and anything smaller would cause some channeling of The Macho Man.

Before Tailoring:

Boxy around the middle and the sleeves are way too long.

Well first the good news, it’s incredibly comfortable. The Baird McNutt linen is wildly soft, and along with the minimal half-lining (cotton upper back, poly sleeves…that’s it) it’s nice and cool. And the washed fabric is real casual. Precisely what I was looking for, and this is going to pull some duty in the fall too (even on sale, it was expensive enough that it better).

But out of the box… man. It fit about as well as the box. A little contour at the waist, but not much, and the sleeves were ridiculously long. Size down? Can’t. The tail would have been way too short on a size small. And the shoulders fit on the medium.

After Tailoring:

Had the sleeves shortened and the waist suppressed. Might need more…

Took it to my tailor and she went to work with the pins. There was a LOT of potential fabric to remove, but she warned that linen stretches pretty easily. Meaning… tailor it too close, go to give someone a hug, and you might wonk-out the shape of your blazer with some pulling that refuses to recede.

After the much needed sleeve shortening (they could probably even come up more) and a not-too-close nip at the waist, it fits, feels, and moves much better. Even if it doesn’t look drastically different in those still shots above.

But it’s nowhere near as well fitting as my 38R jackets. And that’s fine, since it’s a warm weather casual sportcoat. Doesn’t have to be super-dialed in. But at this high of a price, you’d wish they would have at least offered it in more exact sizes, even if it is unstructured.

Are you stuck between sizes? When it comes to blazers, do you allow for a little more wiggle room the more casual they get? Got a favorite summer blazer? Leave it all in the comments below…

Target Merona Ultimate Dress Shirt: $22.99 + $20 in tailoring = $42.99

Target’s Merona Ultimate Dress Shirt gets tons of mentions on this website, and for good reason. It’s widely available, it’s affordable, the collar is nice and substantial, and despite being a cotton poly blend, it’s not too scratchy. But the fit can leave a little bit to be desired.

Despite launching a “slim fit” version not that long ago, then dialing it in even closer in the last few months with an almost all cotton stretch version, these shirts can lean towards roomy. If you’re wearing a tailored blazer or suit jacket? No one will really know but you.  You may feel that extra cloth shifting about underneath, but that’s not a huge deal. Or is it?

Took two Ultimate Dress Shirts to my tailor, who for $20 a shirt did two things:

1. She brought in the sides so the waist + chest fit closer
2. She also slimmed down the sleeves. A lot. The sleeves on these things are awash in cloth. Altered shirts are on the right, with separate, unaltered shirts on the left:

Left: solid white unaltered.  Right: striped white after alterations.

I’ve worn the heck out of the solid white for at least 3 years. It keeps coming back for more, and hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. Out of all of these shirts, this one fit the best off the rack, so I opted to not take that one in to the tailor. It was the fine striped shirt on the right (also seen at the top of the page as well as over here) that got pinned up and taken in. And the $20 was well spent. The difference isn’t wildly noticeable visually, but man does it feel different on. It feels like a shirt that fits, because… well it does.

Left: light blue “slim fit” unaltered.  Right: grey after alterations.

Easy to see the before and after here. The light blue on the left has always fit wonky. It’s not awful under a jacket, but there’s a lot of shifting going on throughout the day. Meanwhile, the grey has worked it’s way into my rotation more than I thought a grey shirt ever would. Looks a little “clubby” to some, but I never wear it solo. More often than not, this “railroad” grey in a polished up chambray-like fabric is layered under a navy suit.

The Bottom Line

Dropping twenty bucks to trim up a $22 shirt from Target is going to be seen as a waste by some. But there aren’t a ton of $40, truly slim fitting off-the-rack shirts out there with the collar and durability of the Ultimate Dress Shirt from Merona, so it’ll be a steal for many. Prices for alterations can vary wildly, so your tailor’s prices may be totally different. Also, know that all four of these specific shirts were made in Bangladesh. Didn’t notice they shared that same country of origin until now.

Do you take all of your off the rack shirts to the tailor? Or just the ones you wear solo without a blazer, sweater, or suit jacket over them? Leave it all below. Meanwhile, before the visual nitpickers go hog wild in the comments, yes… the belt is long. Lost a little weight recently.  So, there’s that.

Four Common Suit, Jacket, and Blazer Adjustments

Below:  Suit by Indochino, Tie by TheTieBar, Shirt by Alfani Red, Watch by D&G, Shoes by Gordon Rush

What do you tell the tailor when you go in?  I just took my first set of stuff to the tailor this week; and while I was there I realized I had no freakin’ idea HOW slim to get things, how long to make my sleeves, etc.

– Shawn (left in the comments here)

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A good question, but not an easy one.  Tailoring is all about fitting an individual body, and we’ve all got a unique chassis.  I’m a long torso / big legged / prefer my jackets super close at the rib cage / need some pant length to move kinda guy.  But with that said, there are a few foundational adjustments worth considering.

The red lines indicate where most off the rack athletic suits might fit.  Know that when this suit by Indochino arrived, it was much more dialed in than those red lines.  I still took it to my tailor and had her bring it in just a bit more (for free, thanks to the re-tailoring credit).  These are the adjustments most will ask their tailor to make:

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1. Bring in the jacket sides / jacket waist

A jacket waist which darts in gives you that James Bond look.  Have your tailor “pin you up” in front of the mirror.  This is where they gather the fabric that will be taken in, and use pins to give you a preview.  Once they’re done, do the hug test.  Pretend that you’re going to hug someone.  If you feel like you’re going to tear out a pin?  It’s too tight.

2. Bring up / Shorten the sleeves

Wou’ll want to be showing 1/2″ – 1/4″ of shirt cuff when your arms are at your sides.  It’s like a pocket square on your wrists.  That bit of contrast goes a long way.

3. Bring in the pant waist

Most off the rack suits are sold as married pairs.  Meaning the pants that go with the jacket can’t be swapped out.  So if a jacket fits, and you’re not sportin’ a belly, you’ll need those pants taken in at the waist.  You should be able to wear them easily without a belt.  Suit Separates allow you to pick whatever pant size you want.

4. Hem the pant legs

Some guys like stick straight no-break pants that barely graze the tops of their shoes.  If you’ve got bigger upper legs, that’ll cause some issues when you sit because your quands will really bring your pants up to flood stage level.  A medium amount of break with just a bit of kink in the front crease should be just fine.

And those are the basics.  You can always have the circumference of your pants and sleeves slimmed but that can be a little more invasive.  Need a ballpark figure for how much alterations will cost?  Click here.  And yes I cut that entire outfield with a reel mower.  In the suit.  For the hell of it.