What is Wednesday.

This weekly What is Wednesday post is aimed at answering some of the more basic and critical aspects of tailoring and the terminology we use to describe them. It stems from realizing that I’m constantly throwing out different terms with my clients and quite often they’re unsure as to what I exactly mean.  The goal of this section then is to alleviate this terminology gap and provide you with some know-how to talk tailoring with a little more ease.

What is…meant by open or closed quarters?

This is a natural follow up to last weeks discussion about the nuances of the jackets skirt – here is the link if you didn’t get a chance to give it a read.  While the skirt deals with the amount of flare that occurs in the bottom third of the jacket; open or closed quarters specifically deals with whats happening at the center front of the jacket from the fastening button down to the bottom.  In image below on the left you have an example of closed quarters, while on the right we see open quarters.

What is the difference?  Quite simply it refers to the amount of opening that occurs below the fastening button.  With the closed quarters on the left there is little to no opening at all. Comparatively with open quarters we get a big opening that essentially mimics what happens from the button up to the collar.

Which one is better?  Neither – it’s all about aethetics and whatever looks visually right to you is the option you should choose.  The reality though is that we see a lot more open quarters jackets than closed.  In general it’s a softer look as there is simply less cloth visually in the mid section – this allows for more contrast as there is often a glimpse of the shirt, tie or sweater in this case.

As always I’d love to hear your opinions on this or any sartorial subject for that matter.  Better yet book a free appointment and we can banter in person and see if we might be a good fit to work together.

Take care – Michael

info@martinfishertailors.com