Ladies and gentlemen I offer for your consideration a question I raised with fellow blogger Cristoffer, of the Swedish blog, Well Dressed.
The photos below have been shamelessly borrowed, with permission, from his July 6 post.
I commented to this post with the question," have you noticed how short the jackets are in your posts? Is that a Swedish thing, or do Americans wear their jackets too long?"
The reply was that Americans, (and by implication the British), wear their jackets TOO long.
Now obviously several things come into play. Age of wearer, culture, class, race .... , but I was taught that jackets should cover the wearer's rear end. Supposedly that is derived from the drape of hacking jackets. There is a lot of arcania abounding length, but simply put, a man standing should be able to cup his hands under the hem of his jacket.
So, are our jackets too long?
Am I simply too old to see the cool factor of shorter jackets
Are the Swedes all wet, and should we bomb them back to the stone age, or flood them with global warming?
I await your erudition.
The photos below have been shamelessly borrowed, with permission, from his July 6 post.
I commented to this post with the question," have you noticed how short the jackets are in your posts? Is that a Swedish thing, or do Americans wear their jackets too long?"
The reply was that Americans, (and by implication the British), wear their jackets TOO long.
Now obviously several things come into play. Age of wearer, culture, class, race .... , but I was taught that jackets should cover the wearer's rear end. Supposedly that is derived from the drape of hacking jackets. There is a lot of arcania abounding length, but simply put, a man standing should be able to cup his hands under the hem of his jacket.
So, are our jackets too long?
Am I simply too old to see the cool factor of shorter jackets
Are the Swedes all wet, and should we bomb them back to the stone age, or flood them with global warming?
I await your erudition.
Toad
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25 comments:
Toad...I think that in general, Americans do wear their jackets a wee bit too long. However, the bastardization by Thom Browne of scale...especially length...of coats, trousers and sleeves has made folks on both sides of the pond look silly.
The jacket in the third photo is too short. The other three are perfect.
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The 3rd is off, the rest are OK. A buyer of OTR jackets is lucky to get two choices of length and will pick the one that looks better. If he is looking for the perfect length he will not buy many.
Perhaps i'm just accustomed to the length of American jackets, but a shorter jacket gives the impression of someone still trying to squeeze into their First Communion suit....
The first is short and the third is too short.
The second and forth look good.
Sorry!
That should read: The second is short and the third is too short.
The first and forth look good.
Toad, you, at least, are aware that I sometimes favour a shorter jacket, albeit mainly on a casual basis. I wouldn't dream of having it done on a suit, where the lack of contrasting trousers highlights a particular incongruity. As ever, I defer to those that can do it well, rather than criticise outright. I do agree that the third one is too short
As for the cultural question, I do agree with Cristoffer, being more accustomed to European looks. I think that it can differ with the British - I recently tried on a sample jacket by Edward Sexton that was notably long in the body - about 3 inches above my knees - yet allowed for around 1.5 to 2 inches of cuff to be displayed, which was far too disjointed in style for me
I might be out of my league here, but I think the pants are too short too.
I may have to conceed this one to age, fashion or...
While it doesn't work for me, and I find it somewhat amusing, I accept that some may want to wear their jackets shorter than I would allow if I were their tailor.
Cristoffer, my friend, I was wrong.
all that sounds rather drastic. just send them the fabric they cheaped out on. With a note that says, "Makes your hips look huge..."
The jackets are short, but it's not thier fault. You can't think straight when your pants are that tight. It cuts off circulation to the brain.
I agree with Barima, for a casual jacket I'd prefer it was shorter, longer for a suit.
You all are going to hate the pictures I'll be posting tomorrow.
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Americans do wear their jackets longer, and being a Brit, albeit living in the USA, I prefer the slightly shorter cut. However, it's not just a European thing – unless I'm very much mistaken, the gentleman in the third pic is American.
Cristoffer please correct me, but I believe the pictures are of the same man.
Please believe me - I have always praised the Europeans for knowing how to dress; but after having great discussion with my 23 yr. old son, we both agree that a suit jacket as short as in the third photo resembles Peewee Herman. I was always taught the rule that you were. Too long is wrong too. Aww.. the perplexities of life!
I think they all look great, but then again, I wasn't really looking at the jackets.
Toad,
No the third photo is another man.
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1 and 4 are the best - the Khaki suit jacket looks to short in my book.
But yes, I also agree that Americans have been Jos. A Bank'ed to the point that jackets are not only too long, but too big.
As a Swede myself (Please bear with my poor English), I like my jackets to have a shorter cut. I also think that the short length is the most common in Sweden on the whole, at least for men under forty. It is surely a matter of taste, and I know that many Swedes think that American pants/jeans, shirts etc. are too wide.
Bear in mind that there are not that many work places that demand any sort of formal clothing in Sweden. It is a liberal country, and the number of suits at work are (sadly) on the decline. Therefore, hunting and sport clothing get a more formal role than maybe is the case in America and Britain.
Young Swedes of today, that wear sport jackets or suits, are often very "fashion" conscious and has a big interest in clothing. I would say that their inspiration comes mainly from three different sources (which would maybe somewhat explain the short cut jackets):
1. Traditional British sports and hunting clothes. Clothes that are cut short to be comfortable when moving a lot.
2. The American (and British) preppy schoolboy look. The Pee-Wee Herman parallell is actually not that off. Also, look at the ultra American Ralph Lauren ads.. The jackets are often cut short and TIGHT.
3. The Italian look, which has come to be so popular with the aid of "thesartorialist.com", "kishidadays.com/yanchamen" and such sources. The jackets are often short and tight, which also holds for the trousers.
Those are my two cents anyway.
/Fredrik
Frederik I am coming to the conclusion that my "eye" is based solely upon being an older fat man. Look at todays Sartorialist photo.
Obviously very elegant, but not to my taste. Were I younger, or thinner it would probably appeal to me more.
Is that the deference between style and fashion?
That can very well be the case. Fashion is, as I see it, focused on a younger audience. Style though, is something that comes with age. It takes many years to find a style that you feel comfortable in. It has to grow on gradually.
But style comes in many flavours. Even a traditional and classic style has it's variations, reflecting the personal taste of the wearer. And that is truly a good thing. How would the world look like if everyone dressed the same way?
By the way, I have to thank you for an excellent blog.
/Fredrik
I agree with skorpeo. The guy in beige suit with navy tie, 3rd photo, looks like he outgrew that suit several years ago.
Love the European style (sorry)... But then again I'd love to just see my husband in a jacket period.
Dammit, someone has to stand up here for the Americans. I think all of these jackets are too short.
The cut/style I prefer is well-represented in Heavy Tweed Jacket's June 25 post on "Trad Men of Manhattan."
http://heavytweed.blogspot.com/2009/06/trad-men-of-manhattan-1981.html
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