Sid, Qadir, and the darts
Thank you for the question, Drew. We get a lot of “what do I wear to this?” questions, which are always fun, but it’s a nice change of pace to spend a column on the more technical side of things.
I’ll begin by saying that I don’t share your total distaste for the darts… and I get where you’re coming from. We make both, I wear both, and there are use cases for both. They have a place.
When we first started doing our own tailored clothing, shortly after we opened, our original jacket had darts. We still make this silhouette — it’s called the Kincaid — and it’s a quite Italian look, with a small amount of waist suppression (which we refer to as tracing), primarily via the darts in the front. The real non-negotiables were that it must have a full canvas and it must have a natural shoulder… darted vs. undarted was not our primary concern. Most of these were solid colors — our first suit was a navy high-twist wool — and it wasn’t a conscious decision to make this our house style or anything, it was just where we started. Because we needed it to serve a wide audience of guys, and darted jackets have a broader application when it comes to body type (more on that later). It would take us a few more years to find the right maker who could produce a beautifully undarted front. Once we grew the line and started adding more patterns into the mix — Glen plaids, houndstooths, windowpanes — and once we found that maker, we were able to add the Virgil in 2014.
An undarted jacket can be better for patterns, especially large ones, because it doesn’t break the pattern. You get this nice, uninterrupted front. It was named for Sidney Poitier’s character in In the Heat of the Night (1967), Virgil Tibbs, who wore this fantastic grey suit with an undarted, 3-roll-2 jacket. Some sources call it a flannel, some call it a worsted — he wears a few, actually — but he plays a detective tangled up in a homicide investigation in small-town Mississippi and the tailoring is supposed to highlight his sophistication. His suit is interesting, because the 60s were the heyday of the sack suit, named because its undarted front kinda hangs like a sack. It’s a very American look and often associated with Ivy style. But his has more tracing than was typical of that era, so it’s not as sacky, even without the darts. It follows the natural line of his waist. It was probably custom-made. Ours is similar. Sack-inspired, but a little sexier. Our original Master Tailor, Quang Dau, honed his career in that era, so I was really fortunate to have his expertise and guidance when first drafting the Virgil pattern. He drew every single pattern by hand.
By the way, for the less technically minded: waist suppression is when a piece of tailored clothing slightly narrows at the waist to follow the natural shape of your body. It’s not like a corset or anything, it just prevents a jacket from looking too boxy or full. And we like a certain amount of ease over body, so, again, this is a very slight amount. You can get waist suppression from front darts or by more shaping at the side seams. Both our Virgil and Kincaid jackets have the same shape in the finished garment, with the same amount of tracing… they just get to it in two different ways. The Kincaid via darts, the Virgil via the side seams.
So one reason you’d skip darts would be for a cleaner look in the front with a pattern. I called in Qadir, our Master Tailor, for a more technical take on this. He’s been working with us for over ten years — Dau passed the mantle to him when he retired — and you can imagine how many men he’s fitted over the years. Beyond the aesthetics, the reason you’d choose darts has less to do with fabric and more to do with your body type. Specifically, the ratio of your chest to your waist. We’re not gonna get into exact numbers here, because I don’t want to give anyone a complex, but if you have a very prominent chest and a relatively narrow waist, a darted jacket is going to fit you better than an undarted one, at least right off the rack. Qadir says, “I cannot give a ready-to-wear Virgil to a man with an extreme ratio of chest to waist.” Don’t let this scare you off, though, because our tailors are exxxxcellent. It’s just about the starting point. And on a made-to-measure jacket, we can dial in the darting or the side seams to fit your exact torso shape — that’s why it’s called made-to-measure. After seeing countless guys in the tailor shop, Qadir had a note on the body types he’s observed over the years:
“It’s interesting, I see this body shape a lot more in the younger generation… guys who spend a lot of time in the gym. Once you get to about 40 years old, it can go either way, but I see this V shape more often in younger guys.” I’m not sure how old you are, Drew, or how much you work out, but if you’re vehemently anti-dart, I may recommend that you try to keep your proportions relatively balanced and not overdevelop your upper body. Gym regimen aside, this V shape can also be genetic and just how you’re naturally built. In fact, Qadir opts for darts always. “Growing up in a bespoke shop, we always used to dart. My dad was a darted guy, I’m a darted guy. It suits my body.”
Personally, I like an undarted jacket because I like the way it hangs on my body. I’m pretty slim and I don’t have a prominent chest. But, again, I wear both. You can keep on hating the darts, but I hope we’ve convinced you that they have a place. And if you’ve got a super prominent chest and a narrow waist, come see us and we’ll get you sorted out sans darts. Thanks for writing.
