How a suit should fit ★

The jacket, in order

• Shoulder. The seam ends where your shoulder ends. Not before, producing a divot; not after, producing a droop. This cannot be altered meaningfully; it is the buying decision.
• Collar. Against the shirt collar with no gap, standing and walking. A gap means the balance is wrong and a good tailor can fix it.
• Chest. Button it. A flat hand should slide inside comfortably; a fist should not. The lapels should lie flat with no X-shaped strain at the button.
• Sleeve. Ends at the wrist bone with about a centimetre of shirt cuff showing. Both sleeves may need to be different lengths.
• Length. Covers the seat. This moves with fashion more than any other measurement, and covering the seat is the version that ages best.
• Waist. Suppressed enough to suggest a shape, not so much that the front pulls.

The trousers

• Waist. Sits where the trouser was cut to sit and stays there without a belt straining. If you are constantly pulling them up, the rise is wrong for how you are wearing them.
• Seat. Smooth, with no horizontal pulling under the buttocks and no sagging.
• Thigh. Enough room to sit down; not so much that the leg looks unshaped.
• Length and break. A matter of taste, but consistent with the width of the leg.