Orchard Lake St. Mary’s was founded in 1885 and has sat on its 125 acres in Orchard Lake Village since 1909, about 515 students at a time. Somewhere in four years there a boy needs a jacket, for an award night or a dinner or a photograph. The smart buy is one navy blazer, bought right the first time.
Buy it to the shoulders, not to the future
The temptation is a size up so it lasts. Don’t. A blazer that’s too big in the shoulder never looks right and never will, because the shoulder is the one seam a tailor can’t move. Buy the shoulder that fits today. The sleeves and the body are where the growing gets handled.
What gets let out later
Roman, master tailor at Lincoln Tailor, on site in our store, lets a sleeve down and a side seam out as a boy grows. Small jobs he can often do while you wait. The blazer lasts as long as its shoulder does; everything between now and then is a small job. When the shoulder finally goes, that’s the second jacket, and it’s bought the same way.
Trousers on their own
Trousers go first. Buy them on their own, in a gray that goes with navy, and replace them as he grows without touching the jacket.
Also for West Bloomfield: The Interview at Henry Ford West Bloomfield: One Suit. More on style consulting, or plan your visit to our Oak Park showroom.
