Qirrel
Practically Family
- Messages
- 590
- Location
- The suburbs of Oslo, Norway
Don't get me wrong, it is entirely possible to dance in a sleeve that has material added to the undersleeve without changing the vertical distance from the level of the top of the crown to the level of the pitch mark/seam of the top sleeve. Notice, however, that Astaire's suits all exhibit the same type of tension that Nick's suit does. Both in the top and bottom pictures this can be clearly seen: the folds radiate from about the pitch mark, the fabric of the top sleeve bunches up near the crown, the coat lifts off his shoulder ends and up and out from his torso. I would not call that unrestricted movement of the arm.
The sleeves on Astaire's coats are a compromise between mobility and cleanness when the arms hang down vertically. Seen from the back (with the arms vertically at his sides) the sleeves would exhibit folds in the armpit.
Allow me to illustrate what I mean when I say that to get the most unrestricted movement of the arm a low crown is needed:
The sleeve on the left is a modern sleeve. The blue line of the undersleeve is what Astaire's undersleeves would have been cut like. The further back in cutting history one goes, the more the sleeves would look like the one in the middle, and even further back they would look like the one to the right. From left to right more material is added to the undersleeve, and the crown height is lowered.
Compare the right sleeve to this modern draft for a dancer/conductors sleeve:
This is how that sleeve looks when put into a tailcoat:
The "natural" position of that sleeve is that where the arms are stretched out to the sides. It exhibits no tense folds like Astaire's/Nick's coat(s).
The sleeves on Astaire's coats are a compromise between mobility and cleanness when the arms hang down vertically. Seen from the back (with the arms vertically at his sides) the sleeves would exhibit folds in the armpit.
Allow me to illustrate what I mean when I say that to get the most unrestricted movement of the arm a low crown is needed:
The sleeve on the left is a modern sleeve. The blue line of the undersleeve is what Astaire's undersleeves would have been cut like. The further back in cutting history one goes, the more the sleeves would look like the one in the middle, and even further back they would look like the one to the right. From left to right more material is added to the undersleeve, and the crown height is lowered.
Compare the right sleeve to this modern draft for a dancer/conductors sleeve:
This is how that sleeve looks when put into a tailcoat:
The "natural" position of that sleeve is that where the arms are stretched out to the sides. It exhibits no tense folds like Astaire's/Nick's coat(s).
I didn't realize up until now that tailors used to sit cross-legged on the cutting tables. There's a reason why it is called "Schneidersitz" in German.
