Correct Sleeve Length For Dress Shirts, Jackets & Suits + 8 Mistakes To Avoid

See our full-fledged guide here:

00:00 Introduction

Shirt cuff should fall to the base of the thumb, but that requires many considerations to get it right. Basically every feature of a dress shirt – the cut, the armhole size, the cuff button placement, the width of the cuff – will affect the length of the shirt sleeve.

00:32 Sleeve Length for French Cuff Shirts
It should always end at the root of your thumb. Opt for a shirt armhole that is big enough to make you comfortable but small enough to keep the shirt cuff at the right length.

Considerations to make regarding French Cuff or Double Cuff Shirts

01:04 French Cuff Shirts Should Have a Horseshoe Shape Cuff
01:27 The French Cuff Buttonhole Should Be Positioned Closely to the Edge of the Cuff
02:49 Shirt Cuff Must Not Be Too Wide Otherwise It Slides Down
04:34 French Cuffs Should Not Be too Narrow Otherwise it Throws Off the Proportions

Now that you know how long a shirt should be, the question is, how much shirt cuff should you show?

If you go through history, and if you consult different people, you realize different lengths are considered proper by different people.

For example, Allan Flusser suggests you show a half an inch of cuff, shirt cuff that is, underneath your jacket sleeve. On the other hand, Bernhard Roetzel, famous author of the book "The Gentleman" suggests just one cm which is about 2/5 of an inch.

If you go back to the 50's, you find guys that suggest just a quarter inch or about 0.6 cm or alternatively, 2 cm which is 4/5 if an inch or almost an entire inch.

We, at Gentleman's Gazette, believe that it's a matter of taste and personally, I prefer anything in around half an inch, maybe a little bit more. What's more important than an exact measurement is proportion. Ideally, you want the amount of shirt cuff you show here to correspond to the amount of shirt you show on the back of your neck. So if you have half an inch on the back of your neck, you should show about half an inch on your shirt cuff. It's much easier to adjust the sleeve length of the jacket or a shirt, rather than adjusting it on the neck.

If you decide you don't want to show any shirt cuff at all, make sure that the sleeve length is not too long but rather proper and ends right past the little crease in your hand or the root of your thumb.

The other problem a lot of men face is having a large shirt cuff fit into a tapered jacket sleeve. That leaves you with a cuff bunching up and it simply looks terrible. if you have a barrel cuff with buttons on your shirt, you definitely want a more tapered jacket sleeve otherwise, it looks disproportionate.

Traditionally, button cuffs were a bit more casual so with the more formal double-breasted suit, you would always wear French cuffs or double cuffs with cuff links.

Today, you can basically wear anything you want but if you want to adhere to the classic dress code you should always go with barrel cuffs for more casual ensembles and French cuffs for more formal outfits.

In my opinion, Prince Charles does a very good job in balancing his shirt cuffs, his sleeves, and his neck. Next time you see a picture of him or see him on TV, pay attention to that.
#sleevelength #propersleevelength #notsponsored

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Gentleman's Gazette

[dlander]

I love the subtle drum beat in the background.

[chrisogrady]

It's impressive how he manages to finish every sentence with a disconcerting, murderous smile at the camera

[MBValentine]

I know this isn't EXACTLY what this sort of content is meant for, but as someone who knows nada about this, writing characters that DO care, and ARE dressed right, is hard. This is very helpful and easily digestable, even from the perspective of someone who doesn't know anything about this! Thank you <3

[robertboone]

Its details like this that really make a great impression. Women are very observant regarding such things. Nice video, dear sir. I appreciate it. Very nice indeed.

[PickingProfits]

This is such an important and overlooked detail that so many simply do not care about (or know about). Thanks for sharing!

[arthurjoslin]

Sinatra always had 1/2" of his shirt cuff showing. That's good enough for me.

[AHardy]

Super useful tips!! My suit selves vary in lengths by about 3/4 inches so if I'm wearing flashy cufflinks I can really show of or be rather discreet, but all of my suits allow for some cuff to show. I also find most people who prefer no cuff to show or longer selves in general have military experience where it is regulatory that the bottom of the cuff rests at the first knuckle of the thumb.

[brianb]

Thank you for the very informative video. As a taller man I have to be careful to avoid shirts that have sleeves that are too short. I'm going in to be fitted for a new suit and I''ll wear my dress shirt to make sure the length is correct for the arm length.

[danbee]

Great video. I was at odds on how long a jacket sleeve should be against a dress shirt sleeve. I was suprised to hear yourselves say 0.5 inch to 1.25 inches as Gentlemens Gazzette view on the matter. I was googling various videos and they said 0.25 to 0.5 inches. I had two jackets altered you see and I was concerned I got it tailored too short as cuffs showed about 0.7 inches. When yourselves said the range previously stated I was pretty pleased.

I personally thought I had too much cuff, but then obiously when you brting up french cuffs it's nice to show that off too.

[smartkooldude]

i watched 3 video's of yours back to back today, i have been a passionate dresser sometimes very picky too, i thought i knew so much and also my folks rely on my knowledge or expertise i should say about dressing but i must say i learned a few things from your videos. I just bought a few pants online all decent brands and fairly discounted price which i thought were a good deal and of course they are but i was checking them out today and i found that front crease was falling and i just came to check on the internet what is right and how should it look like but instead i got hooked up and watched 3 videos but any way thanks for nice and relevant explanation which i will keep in mind when ever i do shop off the shelf or have it tailored.

[amitchell]

I’m learning and I’ll be honest I never had an idea of all this details and rules to look like well dressed man!

[danbee]

coming back to this. The whole idea of the shirt cuff matching your jacket sleeve width isnt to be underestimated guys. it plays a big difference. Itll make the difference of your jacket sleeves looking right proportionally. Of course you can go with a spezzatura element if proportiona isnt everything to you. Most english tailored suits favour toward french cuffs.

[GorcStew]

These kinds of videos give people with OCD more OCD

[dipro]

An excellent video, Raphael. I can see you becoming a strong voice in globals mens fashion in the next 10 or so years. Long road ahead, good luck.

[Elliot_Z]

Another excellent video. You are my go to resource for anything style wise. There hasn't been a question you haven't answered.

[paulbyron]

The 1cm looks perfect to me. Cuff links often deform the shirt cuff. With 1cm one just gives the occasional glimpse of the cufflinks which is nice.

[mr.harrington]

I found a really nice navy sports coat at a thrift store and had it resized to my shape at the tailor. It has working buttons though which made it really expensive to shorten the sleeves so I skipped that part. Now I can just pretend that that is the way I like it when I wear that jacket. ;)

[vandoren]

For whats worth, In Italy many decades ago when people used to wear jackets and suits almost every day, the "rule" was that sleeves length should be so that they wont show the forearm when the arm is extended to shake someone's hand ( I see a lot of that happening these days).
And if a shorter sleeve might even look ok with the arms resting along the side, it often is way too short when the arm moves.

[AbcDef-lquh]

It's a nice guide indeed. I will check out the website so I get a better insight about this topic. Personally I like to wear coats for autumn/winter seasons and their sleeves are either long or short, never match my arm length... Which rule should apply for coats? it's a fair question, I think.

[dragosavo]

Interesting about symetry with collar show. That makes sense. I am not a fan of all the excessive slim fit shortened sleeve suits. This video reassures that I am not alone.