What Size Suit Do I Wear?

How to quickly find your suit size

This is to address the numerous future and past questions concerning the sizing of suits, and how to choose the correct size.

For the first time buyer, the numbers and lengths on the tags are somewhat confusing to say the least.

To the person who is looking to replace their old suit for an upcoming occasion, knowing your size is not as easy as looking at the tags.  Because suits are generally not a frequent purchase, it is very understandable that after a few years and pounds lost or gained that your should call into question whether or not your size has fluctuated.  Hopefully, we can address those issues and unanswered questions here.

Suit Size: What does it mean? I’ll try to explain.  

For the numbers, and this may be a bit basic, but we’ll start with 44L.  This is a 44 Long, which means the chest measurement is 44 inches.  The L ( standing for Long) is the length of the sleeves. (Standard lengths are S (Short) R (Regular) L (Long) & XL (Extra Long) 

Suit Jacket Chest Size

This measurement is the most important.  

Take a measurement around your chest, under your arms, with the tape fitting about as snug as you would want a jacket to fit.  This is your jacket number.

Rule #1 and the only rule if you ask me: If the jacket fits, or even fits in the chest alone, then the rest of the way is simple.

The pants can be made smaller or larger in the waist, the length of the pants can be as well.  The jacket sleeve length can be made longer or shorter.  So when shopping, if you can find a 44 Long that has a waist size too big or too small, and you are set on that suit, don’t pass it up.  You have to get the pant length on any new suit altered anyway (most dry cleaners have an alteration service), so while that is being done the waist can be touched up or any other measurement that you feel needs to be tailored.

Passing up on a suit that is either a good deal or a good looking style that you love because of a 2 inch waist difference doesn’t make sense, especially if you have to opt for a suit that is higher in price over what alterations would cost.

Spending more to get the exact size waist is not a good approach, as long as the jacket is the right size you are good to go!

Suit Jacket Length

Suits come in 3 to 4 lengths depending on the vendor or retailer: Short, Regular, Long and Extra Long (there’s also portly but they account for less than 1% of all men).  The majority of people fall under the “R” (Regular) category, meaning that if your chest is a 44 you would wear a 44R or 44 Regular.  The basic rule for length of suit is that most people 5’5″ to  5’10″ usually can fit a Regular, below 5’5″ can fit a Short, 5’11″ to 6’3″ Long, and for people taller than 6’3″ an extra long will fit for the most part, but the taller guys sometimes need to get a tailor made suit just for the sheer fact the their measurements are very hard to come by for the most part (6’5″ and up)