# Weird stitching on suit shoulders



## sickinthebin (Oct 24, 2008)

Morning everyone,

I've been browsing on this forum on and off for a while but never posted anything as i've generally found the answers in previous threads but I would now be grateful for some advice please. It's not a subjective "does this style look good" type question, or at least i think not.

As a bit of (probably unnecessary) background i wear a suit every day and have quite a few (about 11 i think). However, as i wear them to work and the majority of my time is spent sitting at a desk with the jacket hanging behind the door I'm loathe to spend a lot on "work clothes" and i tend to buy cheap Marks and Sparks' or Burtons' suits with a couple of M&S's nicer ones thrown in for meetings etc. I'm sure plenty of you will now be recoiling in horror at the thought of a £70 suit from Burtons but they happen to fit me fairly well and at that price are pretty much disposable. 

Anyway, I've recently decided that i would like to have a reasonably nice suit too, for social wear as opposed to work, and as a stop gap until i can justify a "semi-bespoke" Savill Row affair, bought an off the rack Kenneth Cole suit from House of Fraser.

I'm really pleased with the suit, it looks considerably better than the cheaper work suits, however, having not had a "designer" suit before there are a few things i am unsure of. 

Firstly, the label on the sleeve. Well, i'm not actually unsure about this, it's coming off of course. But in a similar vein there appear to be other loosely stitched exterior "features" (sorry about all the inverted commas by the way, i generally hate using them but there seems to be a lot of call for them in this ramble!).

Specifically, the vents have been stitched closed with a large white cotton cross. It looks ridiculous and surely must be unpicked. I assume it is intended to keep the shape of the suit in storage/transit and avoid a vent folding back and creasing(?)

Secondly, the seam along the top of the shoulder also has a number of approximately half inch white stitches running along it. They are not immediately apparent but certainly look added on. I can't quite be sure whether this is meant to be some sort of deliberate style feature (such as contrasting stitching on a button hole for example). 

I can see the logic for a sleeve label and possibly for temporarily closing the vents but i can't see any reason for this and i don't want to end up unraveling everything and ruining the suit by unpicking it.

While I'm on the subject of unpicking stitching, do people generally think that pockets should be unstitched? Why are they stitched closed in the first place? I know one would never want to carry things in jacket pockets as it ruins the lines of the suit but for wearing a pocket square for example you have to unpick it.

Can anyone help me out?

Thank you in advance.


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## Mad Hatter (Jul 13, 2008)

Those are basting stitches from when the suit was made. They are meant to be removed when bought and presumably fitted. By all means remove the label on the sleeve.

As far as untacking the pockets, I would certainly do it on the breast pocket. Patch pockets; I leave them tacked.


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## paul winston (Jun 3, 2006)

The Mad Hatter is correct in his comments/advice. I am surprised that a shop would deliver a suit without removing the sleeve "Joker" label and the shoulder and vent basting stitches which are very obvious. Because we are making our suits for individual customers we never use the sleeve label. The last thing we do before delivery is open the pockets. Every once in a while we forget to open the pockets. About a year ago a customer called and asked if we could still get a particular cloth from which we had made him a sports jacket 10 years before his call. When I told him we could get the cloth he said he wanted to have another jacket made with one change- he wanted real pockets instead of the "dummy" pockets that his old favorite jacket had. We had forgotten to open the pockets and he had worn the jacket for ten years thinking the jacket didn't have real pockets.
Paul Winston
Winston Tailors
www.chipp2.com


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## deandbn (Mar 6, 2006)

The label on the left sleeve is attached so that the retailer can see the make/model/size data for the suit at a glance when looking through the suits on the rack to show to you. The other white stitching is there to hold the jacket in shape while the suit is hanging on the rack waiting to be sold. 

At the time of sale, the salesman should introduce you to the company in-house tailor who should remove all of this stitching and labels at the same time measuring and altering the trouser length as well as maybe taking in the waist and seat of the trousers. You would then actually take the altered but fitting suit home a day or two later.


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## sickinthebin (Oct 24, 2008)

Thanks for the replies guys, that's very helpful. You have all referred to the fact that these should have been removed before the suit was delivered; is it something skilled which i need the store's tailor to do or can i simply snip them with scissors and carefuly remove them myself?

Or is it such an outrageous thing for them to have ommitted to do that i should return it and complain on principle!?

I bought the suit online (as it was on offer for £130 off, wasn't instore and can easily be returned to the store just down the road) so there wasn't any of the fitting mentioned in your replies. Aside form the sleeves arguably being a tad too long I'm pretty lucky in that off the rack stuff usually fits pretty well.

Thanks again.


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## whistle_blower71 (May 26, 2006)

You can easily remove the label and baste stitching. Don't complain.

*W_B*


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## flatline (Dec 22, 2008)

Agreed, don't complain. However, I would recommend going to a tailor, no matter what you may think about your excellent fit. Sleeve length should certainly be corrected, and a good tailor can fix a number of other little details - the suit may bunch or pinch at the back and you can't even see it, for example.


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## ToryBoy (Oct 13, 2008)

paul winston said:


> About a year ago a customer called and asked if we could still get a particular cloth from which we had made him a sports jacket 10 years before his call. When I told him we could get the cloth he said he wanted to have another jacket made with one change- he wanted real pockets instead of the "dummy" pockets that his old favorite jacket had. We had forgotten to open the pockets and *he had worn the jacket for ten years thinking the jacket didn't have real pockets.*
> https://www.chipp2.com




PMSL


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## sickinthebin (Oct 24, 2008)

Thanks again. I was only joking about complaining on principle, i just wanted to double check that what i now know to be baste stitching should come off.

I'm happy with the fit and i don't think i need to take it to a tailor. There's no question it doesn't look as good as one which has been fitted by a tailor but like i said, it's a stop gap before i go for a "proper" tailored suit.


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## Blueboy1938 (Aug 17, 2008)

If you can take it to the "bricks and mortar" of the same outfit you went online for the suit, I'd try taking it there and having the in-house tailor take out the basting and take off the label, opening the pockets for you in the bargain. It seems to me that they should be willing to do that, since it is their garment, and you would avoid the risk of snagging the fabric doing it on your own. I always have apprehension about that when I do this myself, but not for opening the pockets. The main problem with the latter is getting all the threadlets out.


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