Asymmetric shoulders

[alchimiste]

Should the shoulder padding be made asymmetric to compensate (at least to some extent) for the asymmetry of shoulders (one more slope than the other) so that I look more symmetric? Or should the padding be kept symmetric anyway?

Mathieu

 

[Alias]

Ideally, no. Asymmetric shoulders should be compensated for in the cut, at the chest and waist. Basically, one side of your body is compressed more than the other side, and the same should be done to your jacket.

But if you're dealing with RTW, simply changing the shoulder padding would be the quicker and easier solution.

 

[alchimiste]

Thanks Alias. No I don't mean RTW, this is why I need to know what to do about the shoulders since I can choose the amount of shoulder padding, cut, etc.

Mathieu

 

[Alias]

Glad to help.

Simply adding shoulder padding will affect the fit at the armhole. If one shoulder has more padding than the other, you will have different size armholes.

Even with the method I described in my first reply, your shoulders will not line up perfectly level. However, this method does get rid of one nasty problem with regards to asymmetrical shoulders: bad wrinkles that only appear on one side of the jacket. I guess if you really really wanted to, you can afford to put just a little more padding in one shoulder without drastically affecting comfort.

 

[Brian SD]

Will MTM a la Chan, Sam's, modify the jacket to accomodate asymmetries, or would you ahve to go bespoke for that?

 

[matadorpoeta]

adding more padding on one side is the easier way to do it, but a good tailor will make the adjustment in the cut of the suit. everyone has one shoulder higher than the other, one arm longer than the other, etc... but on some people it's less obvious.

 

[johnnynorman3]

Chan will do it -- one of my shoulders is also less wide than the other, and Chan put extra padding at the sleeve head to prevent sagging on that shoulder. Very good work, I must say (though it take some getting used to).

 

[Walter]

Chan and Sam's are bespoke not MTM or am I mistaken?

 

[Manton]

There are a couple of issues here to think about.  If you have a significant drop on one side, this affects the coat in two chief ways: it makes the shoulders look asymmetrical, as has been discussed.  It also throws off the button point: one side (the dropped side) of the coat will hang down longer than the other side.  So, when unbuttoned, the coat looks uneven; and when buttoned, the lapel on the dropped side will "bow" or "bulge" out in an unsightly way while the other side looks clean.

The latter problem can be corrected by taking up the dropped side of the coat at the shoulder seam, adjusting the collar, etc.  But your shoulders will still look uneven.  The "symmetricality" issue requires padding to correct, so far as I know.  There is simply no other way to raise the shoulder line.  Tailors can give the shoulder some pitch and have it rise at the sleevehead through cutting and sewing alone, but this does not raise the overall line.  So if you have shoulders that are significantly different, and you want the angle, line, and level of each shoudler from collar to sleevehead to be absolutely identical, then, yes, at least the dropped side will need a little padding.

 

[retronotmetro]

Chan and Sam's are bespoke not MTM or am I mistaken?

If we define "bespoke" as requiring the creation of a paper pattern for each individual customer, and "MTM" as modification of preexisting stock patterns to fit a customer's measurements, then WW Chan is bespoke, not MTM.  No idea about Sam's.

The fact that WW Chan's US tour suits are based on a single measurement session (no interim fittings) seems to lead some to believe that they are MTM.  But since they are still preparing individual paper patterns for the customer, I would argue that it isn't MTM.  It may not be "bespoke" in the Savile Row sense, but it is certainly a custom and customizable product that isn't constrained by a prefab pattern base.