The Anatomy of the Coat I: Pitching Sleeves

Welcome one and all to a fun new project with Cad & the Dandy, my first bespoke sportscoat, cut in a loud, slightly caddish rusty orange and sky blue checked wool by Holland & Sherry - just what I was after. In including this sportscoat on this site, my intention is not to cover the full-length bespoke process as I frequently do, but instead to focus on some of the technical aspects of fitting a bespoke coat (remember that 'coat' is the correct tailoring term for a tailored jacket) and offer some insight into the tailoring science that goes into the most intricate parts of a bespoke coat. The jacket below is at the 'skeleton basted' stage, made-up for a first basted fitting. At this point, all the individual exterior panels and the interior canvassing of the coat have been brought together temporarily, gently held in place by a loose web of white basted stitching. The trimmings, pockets, lining, collar and lapels have yet to be worked on. The idea at this stage is to provide an initial 'skeleton' of the jacket's form, allowing for the tailor to assess for the first time, which aspects of the jacket's fit need to be worked upon and improved.

With fit taking priority at this stage in the bespoke progress, one of the tailor's major concerns is to ensure that the sleeves are 'pitched' or fitted correctly. Getting a sleeve to hang perfectly around the shoulder and through the length of the arm is a fine art, often requiring several fittings. Every individual's arm will hang naturally at a certain angle, or 'pitch' in relation to the torso, and often on ready-to-wear or made to measure garments customers will have to put up with a degree of 'furrowing' or creasing either at the front or rear of the sleevehead, where the natural stance of the arm fights against the sleeve. One of the many benefits of bespoke tailoring is that your tailor can pitch and hang the sleeve perfectly to suit your shape, creating a sleeve that hangs effortlessly from the shoulder, with no furrowing  around the sleevehead where it is sewn into the shoulder, or down the sleeve's length. To achieve this, several things must be addressed. Initially, the cutter will assess the natural curvature of the customer's arm; some arms rest naturally with more of a bend at the elbow than others, so the sleeve itself will not be cut completely straight, but will be cut in a sweeping curve to match the natural curvature of the customer's arms. It is at this stage that the depth of the sleeve will also be assessed; and a generous or slim sleeve cut depending upon the customer's preference and the tailor's house style.

Then, at the first basted fitting, the sleeve must be 'pitched' in relation to the shoulder. Some individuals will have a rounded shoulder and their arms will sit forward a little in their sockets, others will have arms that fall backwards away from the shoulder, depending upon their posture. A bespoke sleeve must be pitched to allow the arm to rest in its natural position in relation to the shoulder with no resistance or friction from the sleeve itself when the coat is worn. The sleeve must effortlessly mirror the pitch at which the arm sits in the shoulder socket.

Sleeves can be pitched 'low' or 'high' with low-pitch accommodating figures with an erect posture and a low, backward slanting shoulder and high-pitch with those who have a forward roll to their shoulders, with a shoulder socket that sits high on their torso - hence the terminology of 'high' and 'low'. Initially, a bespoke coat will have the sleeves basted-in with an approximation of the correct pitch for the customer, based on the tailor's initial measurements and impressions of the customer's posture. During subsequent fittings, the sleeve position will be refined to sit with the correct pitch - hanging effortlessly with a clean, neat shape with no furrowing when the arms are at rest. To begin this process at the first fitting, the tailor will mark the pitch of the sleeve for the cutter clearly with chalk, demonstrating the angle at which the sleeve needs to sit naturally. The above photograph clearly shows the chalking of the sleeve pitch.

Excess cloth in the sleevehead itself can also cause furrowing because this excess gives the sleeve the opportunity to drop a little. To rectify this, the sleeve has to be lifted and roped in a little tighter. This process is known as 'picking up the hind-up' and you can see the effect in the photograph above. On this coat the sleeve was dropping a little more than we'd like at the rear, so the rear of the upper sleeve has been pinned-in behind my shoulder and that excess cloth will be removed to keep the sleeve free from furrowing. The pins running down the length of the rear of the sleeve indicate that the entire sleeve is going to be slimmed down. This is an aesthetic thing more than anything - I like a modern looking, slim sleeve and keeping the sleeve slim will minimise any chance of furrowing due to excess cloth at its rear.

Paying attention to sleeves offers an entirely new perspective on quality of fit, both for ready-to-wear and bespoke garments. Hopefully this post will enable readers to gain a better understanding not only of the technicalities behind fitting sleeves, but will also offer a suggestion of what to look for when shopping for well-cut off-the-peg jackets. A top alternations tailor will be able to strip-out and re-pitch a sleeve if needs be, but its a messy and expensive job, so next time you look in a mirror or attending a coat-fitting, make absolutely sure that the sleeve is as clean as it can be, and that you're happy with how its looking, before you proceed.