How long should your jacket be?

Commenters on AskOkey’s social media posts have recently been questioning the length of AskOkey’s jackets: they are too long, many have argued. So just how long should a jacket be?

First, the jacket is part of an ensemble. It is not a separate piece, worn in isolation. Thus, when discussing jacket length, we should be talking about the jacket-trouser combination. A safe rule of thumb, often quoted by the Proff, is that the jacket’s length is largely determined by the width of the trousers, because the jacket starts a vertical line, descending from shoulders to feet.

That said, there are a couple of other rules to keep in mind: the jacket must cover the wearer’s seat; and it must clear the crotch, in front. Men with long torsos thus need longer jackets. Another safe rule of thumb is that the jacket hem should be no lower than the knuckles of your hand, as in the picture below:

The very short, slim-fitting jackets that one sees today can work on very thin men, but most of us are safer with traditional lengths. AskOkey’s jackets are just that – traditional length, creating a silhouette from shoulders on downwards.

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We have to wonder why so many YouTube and Instagram commenters think that the jackets are too long. It could be the camera angle in the videos, or perhaps they are just accustomed to seeing much shorter jackets. Certainly, in the picture below, the double breasted jacket looks longer than what is fashionable today, but that is partly an illusion, created by the double breasted cut and the fact that the trousers are of the same material as the jacket.

As with almost everything that we do at AskOkey, jackets cut to classic proportions are just one of the ways that we swim against the tide and create the opportunity for men to look as elegant as they can.