Men's tailoring

Men’s Tailor, Chiang Mai: the shoulder decides everything

A jacket hangs from the shoulders. Every other dimension can be adjusted afterwards.

The waist can be suppressed or let out. Sleeves shorten and lengthen. The length can be taken up. The shoulder cannot, not without dismantling and rebuilding the top of the garment, which costs more than the alteration is worth.

So the shoulder is fitted first and the rest of the pattern is drafted around it. This is exactly the compromise ready-made clothing cannot make, which is why so many men end up in a jacket that is too big everywhere in order to be correct across the shoulders, or correct in the body with the shoulder seam sitting somewhere down the upper arm.

Where to start

If you have not used the shop before, start with a shirt.

It is a small commitment, it is fast, and it is diagnostic. A shirt has no internal structure to hide behind, so if the shoulder is placed correctly and the armhole is cut high enough to let you move, the shop knows what it is doing.

Then a suit, or a blazer if you rarely need a full suit. For most men the blazer earns its keep faster.

Building a wardrobe that works

Two suits cover almost everything: a navy and a mid-grey, in a weight appropriate to where you actually live. Navy is more versatile; grey is more formal in most contexts and photographs better.

Add a blazer in a textured cloth, ideally navy hopsack, and trousers in grey and in a stone or tan cotton. That combination covers business, smart-casual, dinner and travel.

A tuxedo is an occasion purchase. Buy one when you have an occasion, not in anticipation of one.

An overcoat matters only if you live somewhere cold, and it is one of the best-value things to have made here.

Cut and proportion

The most reliable advice in menswear is to choose conservatively.

A notch lapel of moderate width, a two-button front, a cut that skims rather than grips, and a trouser with a slight break will look correct in a decade. Very slim cuts and very wide lapels both date, and cloth outlasts trends by many years.

The place to express preference is cloth, texture and detail rather than silhouette.

Fit and climate

Men frequently order suits here to take home to cooler countries, and that is sensible, but say so at the consultation. A suit cut in tropical-weight cloth will look thin and wear cold in a northern winter. The fabric guide covers weights in detail.