Fitting Into John Varvatos Actually Takes Some Effort
I've been buying and selling vintage American menswear for a long time now, and John Varvatos is one of those brands where the size on the tag means something different depending on what the garment actually is. You can't just go by your usual shirt size and expect a coat to fit. The construction philosophy across their lines shifts pretty dramatically, and that's the main thing people get wrong when they try to order online without checking measurements. John Varvatos Size Guide is mostly helpful for their core ready-to-wear items, but even then it has gaps. Their chart gives chest, waist, and hip measurements for suits and blazers, and sleeve length for shirts. What it doesn't give you is anything useful for outerwear weight allowances, stretch content in their slim-fit jeans, or the way their vintage-inspired cuts sit differently than modern European tailoring. I learned that the hard way with a '18 season crewcoat I bought sight unseen based entirely on the chest measurement. The shoulders were two inches narrower than my frame could accommodate and the return process was a total nightmare.
How to Actually Use the John Varvatos Size Guide
Start by measuring yourself, not by remembering what size you wore five years ago. Grab a soft tape measure and get your chest at the widest point, your natural waist, and your hips. For jackets and blazers, compare those numbers against the brand's chart and pick the size where your chest measurement lands somewhere between the stated number and the next size up. That room lets you layer a sweater underneath without pulling the fabric. If you're between sizes, always size up on their structured outerwear. Their suiting runs closer to true-to-size, so you can be more precise there. Their dress shirt sizing uses neck circumference and sleeve length as the primary metrics. Measure your neck with two fingers fitting comfortably inside the tape, and measure from the center back of your neck to your wrist bone with your arm slightly bent. Don't guess the sleeve length. People routinely get that wrong and end up with shirts that are an inch too short at the cuff, which looks sloppy no matter how well everything else fits. Pants are where things get messy. John Varvatos uses a waist-and-inseam system for most of their trousers, but their slim and straight cuts use different pattern blocks even at the same labeled waist. A 32 in their slim fit sits about an inch lower on the hip than a 32 in their classic fit. I had a pair of wool trousers that I thought would work for a wedding because the waist measurement matched. They rode down every time I sat because the rise was cut for a slimmer hip profile. I ended up wearing them once and keeping them for around the house instead.
Things the Official Guide Won't Tell You
The fabric composition matters more than the listed measurements on a lot of their pieces. Their stretch-chino pants have elastane in them, which means the waistband gives you half an inch of breathing room that isn't reflected in the tag. Their raw denim, on the other hand, will shrink about an inch in the waist after the first wash if you don't pre-soak them. I pre-soaked a pair of their selvedge jeans once based on advice I found in a forum thread, and the shrinkage was exactly as bad as I expected. Next time I just ordered a size larger and wore them unsanforized until they molded to my legs. Their knitwear runs generous compared to their tailoring. A medium in their cashmere crewneck sweater will comfortably fit someone who normally wears a large in their blazers. The body is cut with extra ease through the chest and shoulders. I used this to my advantage once when I needed a smart casual layer for a dinner and grabbed a size down from what my suit jacket would suggest. It worked perfectly because the sweater's stretch and drape compensated for the tighter fit. Outerwear is the biggest exception to every rule I just mentioned. Their pea coats and trench coats are cut on a traditional block with little regard for modern slim preferences. The shoulder seams sit further out, the chest allows for a full overcoat layer, and the length is designed to cover the hip. If you normally wear a medium in jackets, you're probably looking at a large or even an extra-large in their coats. I measured a '16 season double-breasted topcoat before buying and the chest was literally eight inches bigger than the corresponding blazer size. That's not a mistake. That's intentional layering allowance, but it catches a lot of people off guard.
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Where the Sizing Completely Breaks Down
The biggest problem with the John Varvatos Size Guide is that it doesn't account for production year differences. Their sizing has shifted subtly between seasons. A 2019 suit jacket and a 2022 suit jacket in the same labeled size can differ by half an inch in the chest and an inch in the shoulder width. This isn't dramatic, but it's enough that if you're buying secondhand or from an outlet, you should ask for actual garment measurements, not just trust the tag. I've seen listings where the seller wrote "fits a true 40R" and the actual chest measurement was 42.5 inches laid flat. Shoes are another area where their sizing is inconsistent. Their leather boots tend to run a half size small compared to standard American footwear sizing. Their loafers are closer to true-to-size but narrow. If you have wider feet, you'll want to go up a half size in almost everything they make in leather. I wore a pair of their chelsea boots for a month before realizing my toes were compressed against the toe box. Exchanged them for a half size up and the problem disappeared immediately. Their accessories like belts and hats follow standard US sizing, so there isn't much variance there. But even with belts, their buckle hardware adds about a quarter inch to the effective width at the thickest point, which matters if you're wearing narrow waistbands on their trousers.
Practical Workarounds That Actually Help
When you're buying online and can't try anything on, request the flat lay measurements from the seller. Most retailers won't provide these unless you ask, and even the official site doesn't list them for every product. A simple email to customer service asking for pit-to-pit, shoulder seam to shoulder seam, and sleeve length for a jacket will usually get you a response within a day. I keep a spreadsheet of these measurements for every piece I own so I can compare new purchases against what already fits. It's taken maybe fifteen minutes to set up and has saved me from at least a dozen bad orders since I started doing it. If you're buying from a resale site, look for photos of the interior size tag and the garment tags. The care label sometimes shows the specific fit category, which can help you determine whether a piece is from their slim, tailored, or classic line. Their slim items are marked with an "S" or "Slim" notation on the tag, while their classic cuts don't have any special marking. This distinction matters because the same numeric size behaves differently between those lines. For suit separates, the easiest approach is to buy based on the jacket size and tailor the pants separately. John Varvatos suits are constructed with a higher armhole and narrower torso than most American brands, which means off-the-rack pants rarely fit well even when the jacket does. Budgeting an extra forty to sixty dollars for tailoring on the trousers is usually worth it. I've had pants let out at the waist and shortened at the hem, and the result always looks better than trying to find a size that fits both the jacket and the pants at the same time.
