Garment cutting in the twentieth century

by Günther F. Hertzer

For a sack coat, make the front about ¾ shorter than the back, for the reason that the back of a sack coat is also ¾ shorter than that of a frock coat, and which is fully illustrated by the lap of the bottom of the sidepiece and top of skirt in Dia. [III]. This calculation holds good for the normal form, and for the long or for the short neck, but for the stooping and for the erect form it ought to be measured, especially in extreme cases.

The Waist Seam and Bottom.

It cannot be supposed that all seams of a coat will run according to the slope of the body when a pattern is laid on the flat table. The run of the seams, when covering the crooked form of a man, must always assume a different position when laid out on a flat surface, which is fully demonstrated in the back slope of pants. But a cutter should know how much they are out of gear from a certain line or base. If a cutter is able to cut a frock coat with a waist seam running horizontally around the body when the coat is on, then it will be easy for him to produce a square bottom, which is always in good style, and a coat that is too long or too short at one place is always a misfit. On the contrary, a horizontal waist seam is not in good taste. A stylish waist seam is on a gentle curve upward at the side when the coat is upon the body.

Taking the side as a guide, the back may be ½ in. lower, and the front may be 1 in. lower. But the position of the human form is so different in different individuals that we can seldom find two men recording the same position of the waist seam when having the same coat on. This being the case, a cutter should come as near to it as possible. The true position of the bottom of a coat, or of the run of the waist seam, can best be found by measuring with a straight-edge from the level floor upward. The position of that seam, as shown in Dia. [II], may be considered as a fashionable run, but there is no law to prevent us from curving it more or less.

As shown in Dia. [III], it will be noticed that ¾ length of the back is absorbed by the lap of the top of the skirt, and bottom of side piece, and consequently the front must also be shortened that amount, at the bottom from the side forward, in order to make it square. On the sack coat the back and side piece are in the same position, and consequently the bottom is square. The shaving off of the front of the skirt for cutaways has nothing to do with the foregoing calculation.

So far I have paid attention mostly to straight fronts, because they must be cut just right, for a straight front coat will be spoiled if the bottom of the skirt laps over too much or hangs apart. In cutaway coats no such trouble exists, but it is necessary to observe the following difference between a cutaway and a straight front. A straight front is usually a longer coat than a cutaway. A longer coat is required to have a fuller skirt toward the bottom, so that, in walking, the legs can have play enough and yet not strike the coat with every step; and the longer the coat the more space is required. A cutaway coat is always a short coat, but a short coat may also have a straight front.