Collar Gap DESTROYED!! (Sort-Of Bespoke) Gray Flannel Suit by Luxire

I embark on a quest to conquer a common but surprisingly complicated suit fit issue that has plagued me for years… the DREADED COLLAR GAP.

*Not a sponsored video

I’m far from what you might call a men’s style expert or anything like that but, in an effort to become more of a well-rounded person, I’ve tried to build a fair understanding of what to where when and how things should fit. I enjoy throwing on a suit or sport coat when the occasion calls for it. But that said, with coats I’ve always struggled with a fit issue commonly known as “collar gap”. This is where the back of the collar sits away from the shirt collar when it’s supposed to rest clean against the back of the neck, like this. See how these collars lay nice and flat? Now look this. See the difference? To my eye, collar gap is a sloppy look that, once noticed, I can’t un-notice it.

And, while every tailor I’ve consulted in my area has been certain that they could fix it for me… I’ve had no such luck. Even experiments with made-to-measure and entry-level bespoke (Divij Hemrajani, Tam Tailor) have rendered disappointing results. I don’t have particularly terrible posture but there’s just something about the shape of my back and shoulders that causes this issue.

After a lot of trial and error, I nearly resigned to the idea that, unless I shell out thousands for pure bespoke tailoring, I’ll always have poorly fitting coats. And that doesn’t seem right. Right?

So I set my mind on solving this collar gap problem and started to do some research. While searching for some clue that might lead me in the right direction, I stumbled upon a video by British tailor, Redmayne 1860 in which head cutter Tom Mahon explains how a shortness of back balance can cause this issue.

Luxire is a made-to-measure menswear company from India that has been my go-to for shirts and pants for a while but I hadn’t tried any suits or coats. They seem far more flexible than other custom tailors and do a great job of working with customers to get a perfect fit. I already had some grey flannel trousers from Luxire, so I figured I’d order a matching coat and, if it worked out, I’d have a full suit.

Before placing my order, I gathered up all of the measurements that Luxire would need. I decided to use my navy sport coat as a starting point since it fits pretty well and then I made little tweaks accordingly.

This is what the at-home trial coat looked like. It’s a basted garment which is sort-of like a first draft in the tailoring world. After the pattern has been cut, the coat is temporarily stitched together with a loose white basting thread which provides the tailor with an opportunity to check the fit and make critical adjustments before the construction is finalized and the finishing touches are added. Basted fittings are a hallmark of true bespoke tailoring and most bespoke tailors will require two or three fittings before the final garment is delivered. Luxire offers this similar basted fitting step as well.

After another month or so, I received another package from Luxire. That was fast. My finished suit coat was packed with a beefy plastic hangar and a nice breathable cotton garment bag. I like the blue. This was the fully finished coat with lining, pockets, tan horn buttons, hand-sewn button holes, pick stitching and everything you’d expect to see.

I tried it on and, right away I could tell that this was a significant improvement from other suits and coats that I own. The measurements were nearly perfect, at least compared to what I’m used to. The lines looked great and nothing was pulling or too tight. The shoulders and arms looked clean and the sleeve length was great. The back looked very clean as well but I wondered if it could be a bit better. Or maybe it just needed a good press. My trousers are stuck to my socks here so they’re hanging terribly but I also thought they could be let out a bit so they would look better as well.

So, how about that collar? Well, let’s take a look. Ooo yea! Just look at how well that collar sits against my neck. I call this a victory. Nice!

If I were to nit-pick, I’d say that the position of the button is a little high for my taste but it’s fine. Also, I prefer a slightly lower lapel gorge. These are things that can’t be changed on this coat but I could request those tweaks on a future order.

I had a nice wooden hangar from Kirby Allison’s company, The Hangar Project so I hung my new suit on it and put it back in the garment bag.

Next, I took the suit to my local tailor for some adjustments to the trousers and a little bit of clean-up on the back of the coat. The folks at Dugdale Bros in England graciously sent me this fabric label so I could have it sewn into the lining as well.

#suits #menswear #tailoring #bespoke #madetomeasure