Thoughts on removing the padding from Borrelli, Kiton, Attolini etc etc

An AA poster conveyed they felt that this RTW US suit style looked better by having one's tailor first remove the shoulder padding.

What are your thoughts on this, and would it be too casual for the US work environment for suitings or would it be an improved look.

Has anyone done this?

wouldn't removing shoulder padding considered a dangerous and risky operation, that could ruin the suit? I was told shoulder and chest are the 2 things that have to fit in a suit, everything else could be tailored.

I have my doubts about how well it would turn out.

The shoulder needs to be rather substantially altered to match the slope of your shoulders. No matter how square your shoulders are, they are sure to be different from the average RTW slope allowance + padding.

I would imagine that if anyone is, Chris is probably up to the task but I have a suspicion that he would want to put some sort of pad back into the shoulder to give it a bit of structure.

Originally Posted by Soph

Click to expand...

An AA poster conveyed they felt that this RTW US suit style looked better by having one's tailor first remove the shoulder padding. What are your thoughts on this, and would it be too casual for the US work environment for suitings or would it be an improved look. Has anyone done this?
Soph, What I said was reduce the shoulder padding by 50 percent. You requested a picture and I looked at those jackets last night, there is no way a picture could translate it unless you shot during the process or perhaps a before and after. I have had it done to two jackets, one Borrelli, one Samuelsohn. It is not a cheap move, and the tailor tried to discourage me. To shorten the sleeves and re work the shoulders was about $150.00 as I recall. In both cases, I liked the jacket but felt the shoulders were a little on the line backer side for my taste (I exaggerate to make the point). The tailor, Hazaret, who was the master tailor at Samuelsohn for many years before breaking out and opening his own bespoke shop said he would do it but it would be wise to remove NO MORE than 50 percent of the padding size. He referred to the shoulders pads with numbers representing their size, but I do not recall what he said was in before and what resides there now. The case of the Samuelsohn was more extreme, the jacket is a beautiful fabric, heavy weight in deep henna color and is my favorite jacket for fall but I felt as if small birds could use the shoulders as landing strips. Hazaret made the jacket much more wearable. I would pop in and discuss it with Chris Despos on your next visit, I do not think it is something you would want to consider doing to all of jackets, particularly if your are happy with the Nerano cut as it is.

Good for you. In my own way, I'm doing something similar but at the other end of the scale. Little by little I'm adjusting my ebay suits to a tailored fit. I'm not buying that many clothes at the moment as the money is being spent on alterations but the end result is pretty good. It seems that there is a 'learning curve', not only for what is good and 'stylish' in general terms but also what suits your body the most. I'm average build and height (a bit of a spare tyre accumulated over the winter months) but I know that slim cut clothing suits me much better and the money to adjust my clothing is well spent.

Oh, and following on from the thread - adjusting the shoulder pads sounds like a major undertaking and a recipe for disaster unless of course you have a 'master tailor' on hand, then anything goes.