Style Poll: How do you measure your jacket length?

Lands’ End Canvas Poplin Jacket – $150.00

Picking a length of a suit jacket or blazer is a little like picking your pant break.  There are basically three philosophies:

1. Your jacket should completely cover your ass.  Full coverage.
2. You should use the “curved fingers” method (here’s how to do it) to determine the length of your blazer.
3. The shorter the better.  Chopped even.  AKA the Thom Browne effect.

Pretty sure we’ve reached the extreme of #3 with the new poplin jacket from LEC shown above.  It’s so short that is appears to be not much longer than one of their new cardigans.

Here’s a demonstration of all three jacket length philosophies, using a straight on shot of the Indochino Essential Navy, with a little photoshop magic.  Now remember, I’ve got a real long torso, so full butt coverage on me won’t look the same on someone else.  The middle pic is reality:

#1 – Full coverage looks droopy on some torsos.  #2 – Length determined by curved finger method.  #3 – Chopped.

A Few Observations Worth Noting:

• The less formal / sportier the jacket, the shorter it can get without looking silly.
• Put anything inside a still frame and it’s much easier to notice these kinds of things.
• If you’ve got short legs, a jacket that completely covers your rear might make you look unbalanced.
• If you’ve got long legs, a chopped jacket will make you look like you’re on stilts.
• You need to figure out which method works best for you.
• It’s really all personal preference.  Wear what you feel your best in.
• If you run a men’s style website, spring for a professional photographer every once in awhile, because one day, a post from long ago in which you took pictures of yourself at a crappy angle might come back to bite you in your not-completely-covered-by-your-suit-jacket-rear.