Men’s fashion expert Parker York Smith has revealed the three things you should always do to a new suit jacket or coat while also revealing what the big X on the back of these jackets means
Have you ever bought a new suit or a coat only to find that all the pockets are sewn shut, or that you can’t move around in it as well as you’d expected to? There’s a good reason for this.
A men’s style and fashion content creator named Parker York Smith has taken to his social media pages, where he has millions of followers across multiple platforms, to share why. It’s common for suit jackets and coats to seemingly have more seams than needed, including the big X located by the rear.
In an informative video, Parker told his followers: “My friend, if you are fortunate enough to score yourself a new suit or sport coat, I need you to do these three things before it ever gets worn.”
He then went on to share the three things you should do with your jacket, which includes cutting off some seams.
1. Cut sleeve tag
“First is to cut the sleeve tag off,” he announced as he showed the small tag that’d been sewn onto the end of one of the sleeves.
“As much as I would love for everybody to know this beautiful suit is from Todd Snyder, these tags are not meant to stay on,” he revealed.
Parker used a seam ripper to remove the tag without ruining the coat. He then made sure to banish any loose threads from inside the sleeve.
2. Open the pockets
“Number two is to open up all the pockets,” he said.
While it might sound strange that the pockets are sewn shut, Parker explains that manufacturers sew them shut in order to protect clothing during the shipping process.
He explained: “So you gotta open it up so you can use a pocket square and actually have access to your pockets.”
Once again, Parker used a seam ripper to carefully remove the seam that closed the pockets.
He went on to explain that some people prefer to keep the flat pockets sewn shut in order to keep the pocket looking ‘nice and flat’. However, he himself prefers to open this up too to make the pocket more flexible.
3. Remove the X on the back
Parker said: “And third, and arguably the most important, open up your vents. On the back of your jacket, you’ll see that your vent is sewn shut. This is also to protect it from wrinkling in the shipping process.”
The fashion expert used his seam ripper to cut across the big X to open up the vents, before removing the thread.
He explained that the vents on a jacket or coat are meant to be open as it’ll give you a better range of motion when wearing the formal attire.
Final thoughts
While these three steps might seem obvious to some, Parker went on to say that he regularly see people wearing jackets or coats without having done these three steps beforehand.
People quickly took to the comment section of the video, sharing their amazement at what the fashionista had just told them.
One person wrote: “I had no idea. I thought the pockets were sewn shut because we weren’t supposed to use them. Thank you for continuing to share your wisdom.”
Another said: “The vents!!! The amount of times I see men wearing these coats with the stitches in the vents, and the coat just hangs strangely. I want to lean over and pick out the stitches to free the coat. Great work, mate.”
And a third added: “This goes for women’s suits as well! I can’t tell you how often women don’t open the vents on jackets and coats.”