Sleeves- Modern v. Vintage

[Nick D]

I've read quite a bit on here about the importance of high armholes in getting a suit to fit right. But I'm curious about how this affected the sleeves and how vintage jacket sleeves compare to modern ones. Does the higher armhole mean that the sleeve is less in circumference and fits closer to the arm? Are vintage cuffs smaller in circumference than modern? Is the sleevecap shaped much different in general?

Cheers
Nick

 

[Bird's One View]

There is a lot of variation in sleeve width of both vintage and modern coats.

Furthermore the width at the cuff is somewhat independent of the width of the sleeve in general. That is, much like trousers, coat sleeves may be tapered, straight, or flared at the cuff.

In any case the sleeve should be somewhat wider / fuller than the armhole it is sewn into.

 

[Matt Deckard]

Because the cut is at an angle, you can nearly have two suits look the same on a man standing tall and still with one man in a large armhole suit and one in a small armhole suit.

The cut of the sleeve at the cuff has no baring on the armhole since the sleeve is tapered straight from the armhole.

You will see a difference in the chest and back of a suit because of armholes.

 

[Lamplight]

I don't own a vintage suit or sport coat, so perhaps someone who does could shed some light for me. I've noticed with some modern, "sport" jackets (like nylon windbreakers, etc) that the arm holes aren't necessarily small and high, but the entire sleeve seems to be sewn so that they come straight out to the side from the body of the jacket, much like a shirt. With my modern suit coat and sport coat, the arm holes are large and cut/sewn in such a way that there's no way they could possibly be comfortable even with one's hand simply resting on the hip (such as Matt's picture above). Were vintage suits also constructed with the arm coming nearly straight out or angled down like a modern suit, but with high arm holes. Or was it a combination of the two? And if not the first, could a suit coat or sport coat be constructed in this fashion, or would there be too much material to bunch up in the armpit? Did I make any sense at all?