Can A Regular Fit Suit Be Tailored To Slim Fit? (Solved!)

The hallmark of style knowledge, in my opinion, is wearing a suit perfectly.

And part of wearing a suit perfectly is making sure that it fits you just right. You don’t want to be swimming in fabric, but you also don’t want to be suffocating under your blazer.

As a person who knows a bit about fashion, I’ve noticed that people tend to err on the side of getting a larger suit. If you’ve done the same and you want to get your suit to fit a bit more slim, well, this article just might be the perfect thing for you.

So, how can you make a men’s suit slimmer?

A regular or classic fit suit can be converted into a slim-fit suit by the process of tailoring. A professional remove the excess fabric from your suit and make it fit you perfectly.

But how much slimmer can a suit be made realistically? Can a man’s suit be altered to fit a woman? And what do people mean when they say that are taking the suit down one or two sizes?

Well, that’s exactly what we are going to cover in this article, so read on.

How To Tailor A Men’s Suit To Make It Slimmer?

To make a men’s suit slimmer, you are going to need to alter the measurements of its individual parts.

I would recommend that you go to an experienced tailor for this stuff. Sewing is hard in itself, but making alterations to a suit is extremely difficult. Therefore, it would be better if you can go to a professional who knows what they are doing.

Here are the alterations that are needed in each portion of your suit in order to make it slim fit:

1. Chest – The chest and torso of the suit jacket need to be taken in. This will make the jacket hug your body a lot more.
2. Sleeves – Both the length and width of the jacket sleeves need to be shortened by a few inches.
3. Shoulder and Armhole – If the jacket is a regular fit (in your size), you most probably don’t need to do anything to the shoulder region. But if the jacket is one size up, then you must narrow the armholes of the jacket.
4. Pants – The suit pants should be tapered properly. A good tailor would know how much tapering your pants need.

Depending on the sizing of your suit, you might not need all these adjustments, but again, that’s best left to the judgment of a professional.

Can A Man’s Suit Be Tailored For A Woman?

Yes, a man’s suit can be tailored to fit a woman. Doing so requires changes in the fit of the sleeves, pants, and torso of the suit.

There are few minute differences between a men’s suit and a woman’s suit (a certain episode of The Office comes to mind).

But it is still possible to make changes to a men’s suit to make it more wearable for women. Especially if you have the number of a quality tailor.

Here is a list of the changes required in each part of the suit:

1. Pants

First, take your pant measurements and compare them to the measurements of the suit you want to be altered.

In most cases, you’re going to need to hem your pants by a few inches, which is a very easy alteration. If you are a tall woman, you can probably skip this step though.

You may also need to taper the pant legs, but again, it depends upon the measurements of the suit.

2. Jacket

There are a number of changes that need to be made to a men’s suit jacket so it fits women better.

First of all, you are going to need to reduce the sleeve length. Depending upon your measurements, you may also need to taper the sleeves for a better fit.

If you have narrow shoulders, you need to make alterations to the shoulder seam and remove any shoulder pads.

But here’s the most important alteration – The jacket needs to be taken in at the torso so that it can give the hourglass look that is synonymous with women’s suits.

After making these alterations, you can safely wear a man’s suit, despite being a woman.

Can You Tailor A Suit Down One Size?

Yes, a suit can be tailored to be one size smaller. For this, alterations would be needed in the chest, the armhole, and the length of the suit jacket.

This is probably the maximum amount of size reduction that you can expect from a suit. Going any further down would not be feasible.

Also, rather than telling your tailor that you want the suit jacket to be one size smaller, give her the exact measurements of your body.

This will ensure that the suit fits you as close to perfection as possible. And in my experience, most tailors also prefer this method because it makes things a lot easier for them.

Can you tailor a suit down two sizes?

See, theoretically speaking, a suit can be tailored to be even 5 sizes smaller.

However, in actuality, going even two sizes down is going to impact your suit negatively. It won’t be practical from a monetary point of view either.

Thus, if you have an old suit that needs a drastic reduction in size, it’s much better to sell it and buy a suit that actually fits you.

Final Remarks

To iterate, suits are probably more classy than any other menswear item.

But only if they fit right.

That’s why I tried to educate you more about the complexities of slimming down a suit, be it as a man or as a woman. Because hey, everyone deserves to look their level best when wearing a suit.

As always, here’s a quick summary of the article.

Regular or classic fit suits can be slimmed down, provided that they are taken to a tailor who has experience in men’s suiting. They can even be altered in such a way that they fit a woman perfectly.