Suit Style & Fit
How much shirt cuff should show under a suit?
- Written by
- The Roomten tailors
- Published
- 2026-09-05
- Last reviewed
- 2026-09-05
- Reading time
- 3 min
- how much shirt cuff should show
- shirt cuff
- suit fit
- guide
In short
About half an inch of shirt cuff — roughly one to one and a half centimetres — should show beyond a suit jacket sleeve. Any more looks accidental; any less can make the sleeves look too long.
The cuff gap is a small detail that signals whether a suit has been finished properly. It is also one of the easiest things to adjust.
The measurement
Half an inch is the accepted standard — enough to be visible, not so much that it looks as though the jacket sleeves are too short. In centimetres, 1–1.5cm is the same range.
Getting both sleeves right
- The jacket sleeve must finish at the correct point on your wrist.
- The shirt sleeve must be long enough to reach the base of your thumb when your arm is at your side.
- If one arm is longer than the other, both garments can be finished to match.
When to show more or less
A touch more cuff can look elegant with a black-tie jacket or a very formal business suit. In conservative settings, stick to half an inch. The key is that it looks deliberate.