Edward
Bartender
- Messages
- 24,790
- Location
- London, UK
The relative size differences is one strong reason why a lot of real vintage suits end up in Japan, I guess... Western people in the past were notably smaller, in general, than we are now, and a lot of that stuff just doesn't fit most of us now, but it might do in a place where the folks tend to be slighter-built. Certainly it took some years of searching to find my tail coat, an original 30s piece, in a large enough size for me, a 42R. The vast majority of vintage tails I see selling are 36-38" chest. Seems to me folks were also much shorter in the Golden Era. The number of beautiful suits I've had to pass up in eBay which seemed perfect in every measurement, right up until it came to the inside leg.... I only need a 32" inside leg - regular length, nowadays - but virtually every vintage suit I see nowadays is either 30" or even 28" with nowhere near enough of a hem to bring it down enough. 