# Sleeve garters?



## gtsecc (Mar 25, 2008)

Are they still made?
Is there any other way t get your sleeve length exactly right?


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## Bob Loblaw (Mar 9, 2006)

Yes. Albert Thurston makes and sells them, but this information is superfluous because you are going to go to a tailor fix your sleeves properly.


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## gtsecc (Mar 25, 2008)

How much does it cost to have a tailor shorten sleeves? Can most any tailor do this?


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

gtsecc said:


> How much does it cost to have a tailor shorten sleeves? Can most any tailor do this?


Any competent alterations tailor can easily do this. If the sleeves need shortening only a very small amount, say less than an inch, the cheapest and easiest way is to simply remove the cuff, shorten the sleeve, and sew the cuff back on. This is how I shorten mine and my tailor charges $14.

I think they can also shorten from the shoulder end of the sleeve, but since my sleeves never need to be shortened more than 1/2" or so at most I haven't done this. I am also assuming that this would be more expensive.

Cruiser


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## Palmer_Woodrow (May 24, 2007)

I know at one time J. Press in DC used to carry them....


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## Beachcomber (Apr 6, 2008)

I have seen them at Press and Nordstrom for around $15. They are most useful for keeping French cuffs out of ink when writing (w/ a piston fill fountain pen, of course). They are barely noticable because the shirt fabric tends to billow over them. I can't see any reason to use them with barrel cuffs as these are easily rolled-up. I keep a pair in my desk for the rare occasions when I wander off the trad reservation and don French cuffs. The do impede blood circulation a bit when worn for extended periods of time and they are reminiscent of bartenders in old saloons or card dealers in casinos. I am sure I have seen them in High Noon, It's a Wonderful Life (when his guardian angel gets punched out at the bar), and it some old Bond film casino scenes.


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## Joe Beamish (Mar 21, 2008)

*I picked up a set from Press in NYC*

...for $18 and I like 'em. They effectually shorten the sleeves, making my shirt look correct under my jacket.

QUESTION: Can/will tailors not only shorten sleeves (say, on a OCBD) but also take in the extra fabric on the sleeves -- and torso?


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## Chaps (Feb 27, 2006)

*CCC*

And keeping with tradition...more expensive.


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## videocrew (Jun 25, 2007)

Cheap:

https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/287730/Rubber-Bands-Assorted-Sizes-And-Colors/


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## Sweetness (Aug 25, 2005)

Alright, basic question here:

- Where should the sleeve go when not wearing a jacket? When wearing a jacket? I know that it should show 1/2", but where should the sleeve cut off in relation to the hand?

- How would one wear sleeve garters?

Thanks.


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## jamgood (Feb 8, 2006)

videocrew said:


> Cheap:
> 
> https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/287730/Rubber-Bands-Assorted-Sizes-And-Colors/


^Me morning fish-wrap's delivered with a half pair. Usually in French blue.

^Your friendly U S Postal Carrier stocks free ones in taupe. Don't be greedy.

A bit more manly than garters @ www.blueshire.com Men's Dept > St. George Armbands (About $16 including shipping from UK. Seems cheap. I haven't ordered so cannot vouch for website. Takes PayPal.)

(The easiest way to shorten a sleeve slightly is a taken-in internal fold, seamed at the juncture of sleeve and shirt. A Hilditch & Key technique. Don't know if it's still practiced. Sometimes it was just at the underarm. An internal fold of 1/4 inch shortens the sleeve 1/2 inch.)


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## Patrick06790 (Apr 10, 2005)

Sweetness said:


> Alright, basic question here:
> 
> - How would one wear sleeve garters?
> 
> Thanks.


I wear mine a bit above the elbow.

In a perfect world all my stuff would be precisely engineered, but with the mish-mash of thrifted/sale/eBay RTW I find I use the sleeve garters enough that one of them has become slightly unsprung, the way a Slinky would get after my little brother stepped on it.

I'm not sure when or how I became so fussy, since I'm much more of an Oscar Madison than a Felix Unger in every other aspect of life.


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## Thom Browne's Schooldays (Jul 29, 2007)

I've never worn my pair, bought on some out of the way shop off of Oxford street some years ago.


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## anglophile23 (Jan 25, 2007)

I'm never without my Thurston sleave garters if I'm wearing a jacket.


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## hbs midwest (Sep 19, 2007)

mrs hbs' Aunt Malinda, resident in Twickenham, Middlesex, brought me a pair of the silver slinky subspecies sold by Thomas Pink of Jermyn Street on one of her visits to the States...I use them primarily for adjusting average-length sleeves, eg, LLB chambray BDs, etc.

Our son Patrick subsequently inherited a pair from her husband Malcolm when he died about two years ago. He has my shortish arms, and finds the garters quite handy.

hbs


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## Joe Beamish (Mar 21, 2008)

*Where to wear 'em*



Patrick06790 said:


> I wear mine a bit above the elbow.
> 
> In a perfect world all my stuff would be precisely engineered, but with the mish-mash of thrifted/sale/eBay RTW I find I use the sleeve garters enough that one of them has become slightly unsprung, the way a Slinky would get after my little brother stepped on it.
> 
> I'm not sure when or how I became so fussy, since I'm much more of an Oscar Madison than a Felix Unger in every other aspect of life.


Mr. Jay Walter at J. Press in NYC taught me to wear the garters just below the elbow. Seems to work pretty well. But, as a fan of Patrick, I will give the "above the elbow" approach a shot and see what's best. Still trying different approaches.

I'm learning: In clothes (as in say, gardening, and music, and so on) -- trial and error is perhaps the best teacher.


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