The relationship between your coat sleeves and your shirtsleeves is not an exact science. Some people like to see more cuff, and others prefer to see less … but this is generally how we look at them as a cutter: if you wave your hands in the air, the sleeves are going to look short, so our starting point is always standing casually with your arms relaxed, naturally falling down by your sides. Now, the old rule, when standing normally is that the shirt should fall on to the top of the hand so it covers the wrist; most shirtmakers will agree with this. It’s very hard to give an exact mea- surement, but what we aim for is about 3/8 to half an inch of shirtsleeves showing when you’re standing normally. But, as mentioned, this is not an exact science. Some like a lot of cuff showing, especially on evening wear; less cuff on show is often preferred on tweeds and more casual coats. Another fact we have to take into consideration is to think about the fabric of the coat. They all wear differ- ently, so if you have linen or cotton for example, they’ll crease a lot more, which after regular wear will shorten the sleeve and show more cuff.