Raincoat fit question

John the Swede · Mar 4, 2018

Picked up a 40R 3/4 raincoat and wondered about the fit: It goes down to my knees and the sleeves come almost to my knuckles (around the "v" between thumb and forefinger). Shoulders fit fine, \maybe a tad loose in trunk. Is this a good fit? I was thinking of going down to a 40S but I'm 5'11"... I don't want to wear this over a suit--measured with a shirt only. Advice?

Mathematicus · Mar 4, 2018

It may be a bit long on the sleeves, but I wouldn't bother unless it is going to swallow more than half of your hand. For outerwear, longer sleeves are better than shorter ones, due to increased protection against cold and rain.
I wish I had your problems, since sleeves are always short on me!

belfastboy · Mar 4, 2018

I have a personal weirdness about sleeve length and hate the look of a sleeve even a 1/2" too long. To me looks lije a kid wearing his dad's jacket. If it fits in the chest spend the $20 and get the sleeves shortened

ProteinNerd · Mar 4, 2018

Fit pics will make this much easier to assess..

Peacoat · Mar 4, 2018

If it covers your knees that is good. If above the knees, they will get soaked in the rain. That, in my opinion, makes it worthless as a raincoat. I found this out when wearing a too short raincoat—may have been one of my Barbours.

belfastboy · Mar 5, 2018

Peacoat said:
If it covers your knees that is good. If above the knees, they will get soaked in the rain. That, in my opinion, makes it worthless as a raincoat. I found this out when wearing a too short raincoat—may have been one of my Barbours.

It seems today's fashion calls for raincoats above the knew....some well above. I agree with you, pretty much negates the purpose.

Feraud · Mar 5, 2018

belfastboy said:
It seems today's fashion calls for raincoats above the knew....some well above. I agree with you, pretty much negates the purpose.

That's the problem with Fashion, it makes no damn practical sense.

avedwards · Mar 5, 2018

The sleeve length sounds OK to me. The sleeves on a raincoat should be longer than those of your shirt and jacket to prevent them getting wet. You can have the sleeves taken in a little bit if you still feel that they're too long.

A slightly loose fit in the trunk is not too big a problem with as it let's you put more layers on when it gets cold. Part of the reason many trench coats are belted is to make up for the loose fit.

Mathematicus · Mar 6, 2018

belfastboy said:
I have a personal weirdness about sleeve length and hate the look of a sleeve even a 1/2" too long. To me looks lije a kid wearing his dad's jacket. If it fits in the chest spend the $20 and get the sleeves shortened

I am probably pickier than you in that, as I usually hate the look of sleeves which are either too long, too short or too wide.
But this makes sense when talking about a jacket, namely a garment meant to be worn indoors, over a shirt. For heavy outerwear like raincoats and overcoats one can be less precise and there is nothing wrong having sleeves a bit longer. It is much sillier to walk around in a bulky overcoat with shirt cuffs exposed out.

Doctor Damage · Mar 6, 2018

John The Swede said:
It goes down to my knees and the sleeves come almost to my knuckles (around the "v" between thumb and forefinger).

Mathematicus said:
For outerwear, longer sleeves are better than shorter ones, due to increased protection against cold and rain.

Let me second Mathematicus. The length sounds about right for outerwear, esp if you need it to repel bad weather. If it was a fancy cashmere overcoat or something along those lines then you'd want the sleeves a bit shorter, but on a raincoat longer is better for protection.

belfastboy said:
I have a personal weirdness about sleeve length and hate the look of a sleeve even a 1/2" too long.

What about 1/4" too long? or 1/8"?

If it fits in the chest spend the $20 and get the sleeves shortened

This is bad advice in this case.

belfastboy said:
It seems today's fashion calls for raincoats above the knew....some well above. I agree with you, pretty much negates the purpose.

Feraud said:
That's the problem with Fashion, it makes no damn practical sense.

If you get in and out of a car a lot, then a shorter coat is very useful. If you walk a lot, then longer is better.

hatsRme · Mar 6, 2018

According to a WSJ article on this very topic last week, a perfect fit isn't required of a trenchcoat. They must know...

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