To grade a used wool suit for shine, check the high-friction panels under raking light first, then the seat, then the lapel roll, then the lining and hardware. Shine and a collapsed lapel are hard to reverse, so they set the tier more than a stain or a missing button does.
Here is the usual failure. A charcoal suit arrives, looks spotless on the hanger, and gets listed as Excellent. The buyer opens the box, tilts the trousers toward a window, and sees a polished patch across the seat. The return reason is not as described. The suit was clean. It was not Excellent.
Suits are a category where wear hides in specific places. This guide gives the order we check them in, what each finding does to the grade, and the wording to put in the listing. For vocabulary, we use the tiers NWT, NWOT, Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, and Poor, and the five factors Fabric Condition, Structural Integrity, Cosmetic Appearance, Functional Elements, and Odor & Cleanliness.
Why suits grade differently from other tailoring
A suit is a constructed garment. Under the wool sits canvas, padding, and interlining that give the jacket its shape. Wear shows up as a change in that shape as much as a change in the cloth.
That splits the damage into two groups:
- Surface wear: shine, pilling, light abrasion. This mostly hits Fabric Condition and Cosmetic Appearance.
- Shape loss: collapsed lapel roll, bubbling fused front, stretched shoulders. This hits Structural Integrity, and it is the hardest to fix.
Buyers of used suits are often fit-sensitive and detail-aware. They know what a good lapel looks like. A suit that photographs well but drapes wrong gets returned.
The seven-step sequence for grading a used wool suit
Run these in order. Each step feeds the tier, and you should write down findings as you go rather than relying on memory.
- Check the label and fiber content. Confirm wool, wool blend, or synthetic blend. Shine behaves differently on each, and fine worsted shows it fastest.
- Inspect for shine under raking light. Hold a lamp or window light at a low angle across the elbows, the seat, the inner thighs, the back of the knees, and the lapel edges. Shine looks like a flat, glossy sheen that changes as you tilt the cloth.
- Test the seat and crotch seam. Look for thinning, a polished patch, and seam strain. Pinch the cloth and hold it to the light. Pull gently along the seam to check for slippage or open stitching.
- Assess the lapel roll. Lay the jacket on a table and fold the lapel along its natural line. Look for a soft, continuous curve. A flat or creased edge means the canvas or press has failed.
- Check the chest and front. Look for bubbling, rippling, or separation between the outer cloth and the interlining. Rippling at the chest on a fused jacket is permanent.
- Examine the lining, pockets, and hardware. Check the armhole lining, the inner pockets, buttons, and the vent. Underarm lining tears are common and they count under Functional Elements and Structural Integrity.
- Run the odor and cleanliness check. Smell the lining, collar, and underarms. Cologne, smoke, and mothballs all count under Odor & Cleanliness, even when the suit looks fine.
How to read shine on wool
Shine is fiber flattening from friction, heat, and pressing. It is different from a clean sheen on a satin-finish fabric, and it is not removed by dry cleaning. Steaming may lift a very light case. Heavy pressing can make it worse.
Use this test. Tilt the panel in raking light, then compare it with an unworn area like the inside of the jacket hem or the inside of a pocket bag. If the difference is only visible at a sharp angle, it is light. If you can see it from arm's length straight on, it is heavy.
Wool seat shine is the most common call error. Sellers photograph the front of the trousers and skip the back. Always photograph the seat in the same light you used to check it.
Seat wear, step by step
Seat wear covers three separate defects, and they grade differently:
- Shine only: the cloth is intact but polished. Usually Very Good if light, Good if obvious.
- Thinning: you can see light through the weave when stretched. This is a Fabric Condition problem and usually drops the suit to Fair or lower.
- Seam strain or opening: stitching has pulled or the crotch seam is gapping. This is Structural Integrity. It may be repairable, but disclose it.
Do the light test inside the trouser seat, with the cloth stretched gently between your hands over a lamp. A suit with thin seat cloth fails fast in wear, and buyers know it.
Lapel roll: what it tells you
Lapel roll is the soft curve of the lapel as it folds back from the chest. In a well-made, lightly worn jacket, the roll starts at the top button and falls in a smooth line. Repeated pressing, bad cleaning, and age flatten it.
Grade it in three states:
- Intact roll: a continuous curve with no hard crease. Supports Excellent or Very Good.
- Soft roll loss: the curve is flatter near the edge but there is no hard line. Usually Good.
- Pressed flat or creased: the lapel looks ironed. This signals structural wear and usually places the jacket at Good or Fair.
Do not confuse a stiff, fused lapel with a good one. A glued lapel can look sharp when pressed and roll badly when worn. Check the canvas by pinching the front: a floating canvas moves independently of the outer cloth.
Placing the suit in a tier
Use the weakest meaningful finding, not the average. One flat lapel on an otherwise clean suit still caps the tier.
| Tier | Shine | Seat | Lapel roll | Lining and odor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NWT / NWOT | None | Crisp, unpolished | Full roll, never worn | Intact, neutral |
| Excellent | None visible | Intact, no polish | Full roll | Intact, clean |
| Very Good | Faint, angle only | Minor polish, no thinning | Mostly intact | Intact, clean |
| Good | Visible at elbows or seat | Clear polish, no thinning | Soft loss | Minor lining wear |
| Fair | Heavy | Thinning or seam strain | Flat or creased | Torn lining or odor |
| Poor | Widespread | Holes or open seams | Collapsed | Major damage |
Treat this as a starting frame rather than a formula. Fabric, construction, and fit all shift the call.
What to write and photograph before you list
Put the finding in plain words. Examples: "Faint shine on seat, visible only in raking light. No thinning. Lapel roll intact." Or: "Visible shine on both elbows. Lapel pressed flat near the edge."
Shoot these frames: full front, back with the seat in focus, a raking-light shot of the seat, a lapel profile from the side, the lining, and the label. A buyer who can see the seat before purchase is less likely to open a dispute about it.
Price follows the tier, so the grade call needs to match the photos. Overgrading by one tier on a suit costs more in returns and fees than the extra price you would have gained.
Grade one suit and compare
Pick one suit from your stock and run the seven steps above. Write down your tier, then grade the same suit in GradeThread and compare the condition report against your notes. Look at where the five factors differ from your call. That gap is where your returns come from.