Extended Shoulder Supremacy

[Bromley]

1) On certain shoulders (my own included) I kind of like a bit of the droopy look.

2) None us on this website exist in real life-- only in jpegs. This renders point 2 moot.

 

[dieworkwear]

2) None us on this website exist in real life-- only in jpegs. This renders point 2 moot.

When Foo finally wakes up from this terrible dream where he spent all this money on orders that never went quite right, then -- poof -- we all disappear.

 

[vida]

Interesting discussion...I’m surprised that so many SF contributors like an extended shoulder. I thought the “Neapolitan Soft Shoulder” was the de facto SF approved look.
I also like some structure but wear different jackets based on preference and formality. I just find it easier to wear soft tailoring simply because it comes off as less formal and more in line with current cultural styles.
I do agree that some form of shape through shoulders (extended, roped, etc.) is far more beneficial than not, and I personally would like to see tailored clothing move back in this direction.

 

[mistahlee]

My preference: extended shoulders and roped sleeve heads.

 

[Diamondflame]

My preference: extended shoulders and roped sleeve heads.

View attachment 1206759

Is this a pic of a real person or one of those armless mannequins in certain tailorshops? Either the arms are missing or the shoulders are overpadded and over-extended.

Personally I feel whichever tailoring tweaks one chooses they must at least flatter the wearer’s body and minimize its inherent ‘flaws’. That’s why many swear by ‘bespoke’.

 

[mistahlee]

Is this a pic of a real person or one of those armless mannequins in certain tailorshops? Either the arms are missing or the shoulders are overpadded and over-extended.

Personally I feel whichever tailoring tweaks one chooses they must at least flatter the wearer’s body and minimize its inherent ‘flaws’. That’s why many swear by ‘bespoke’.

No mannequin that. 'Tis I, arms and all. The garment was made for me by the late Kenneth Jennings. The fabric is wool, cashmere and mink. I always thought it minimized my inherent "flaws," of which there are many.

 

[chameshi_nampa]

As someone with narrow shoulders, I find that tops with slightly extended shoulders are more flattering for me.

 

[dieworkwear]

No mannequin that. 'Tis I, arms and all. The garment was made for me by the late Kenneth Jennings. The fabric is wool, cashmere and mink. I always thought it minimized my inherent "flaws," of which there are many.

View attachment 1206829

the new scales of justice

 

[smittycl]

There is a limit, though, and I'm not even referencing those zoot suits caricatures.
I have a large head. Here's a jacket I had a few years ago that fit me very well, but had very wide extended shoulders (it was from 1994). It makes my head look tiny.

Spoiler: giant head-itis

View attachment 1204400 View attachment 1204401

Isn’t that what Cary Grant did? Had his tailor make extended shoulders to make his head look smaller?

 

[smittycl]

Here's an extended shoulder for the ages...

For the ages or for little guys trying to look bigger? Still, that’s what tailoring is for. Accentuating strengths and making allowances for deficiencies (all subjective of course).

 

[smittycl]

I remember that party, and from I recall Archivist uses Steed, who normally extends the shoulders a bit, and it looks really good on him. Yours are extended too, but like Mark’s: barely enough to perceptibly notice, which is in my mind the goal of all tailoring tweaks.

On vacation now in Sheridan, WY and heading to a Polo match shortly. Apparently the good South American players come here for their winter and play matches. Too hot for RL tailoring.

Mentally going through my closet to gauge shoulder fits. Will investigate when I return. Arghh!

 

[pyunghwa]

This is probably an amateur question, but how is an extended shoulder different from sizing up in jacket size and having the tailor slim it down where needed?

 

[FlyingHorker]

Interesting discussion...I’m surprised that so many SF contributors like an extended shoulder. I thought the “Neapolitan Soft Shoulder” was the de facto SF approved look.
I also like some structure but wear different jackets based on preference and formality. I just find it easier to wear soft tailoring simply because it comes off as less formal and more in line with current cultural styles.
I do agree that some form of shape through shoulders (extended, roped, etc.) is far more beneficial than not, and I personally would like to see tailored clothing move back in this direction.

Are the two mutually exclusive? I thought they can overlap quite a bit.

 

[dieworkwear]

Are the two mutually exclusive? I thought they can overlap quite a bit.

Different Neapolitan tailors will do different shoulders, although since it's bespoke, I'm sure they can change things at the margins. I've never bought anything from Rubinacci, but Mariano and his customers tell me they do an extended shoulder by default. You can see this on Mariano's own jackets, most of Luca's, and the few Rubi outfits posted here (such as Iammatt).

I just had a fitting with Solito yesterday, and while most tailors will cut shoulders a little big for the fittings with the expectation they'll take them in, I thought yesterday's coats looked pretty good as they were. That said, Luigi wanted to take the shoulders in about 1 cm from both sides. That seemed like a lot to me, but I figured I would just go with his house style for the first order.

Luigi tells me that he makes jackets with a 1 ply shoulder pad. Supposedly, the only other tailors who do this in Naples are Pirozzi and the older Fomorsa (Mario). And supposedly, Panico and Rubianacci use slightly more padding -- and they'll extend shoulders. I admit, this sorta feels like the kind of thing you hear from a lot of Neapolitan tailors (mine is the softest, hardest to execute, only available from this 1930s tailor and me). For a real breakdown of "house construction," I would only trust @jefferyd, but I'm also fine with going with a tailor's word until someone does a suit dissection. FWIW, I believe Steed uses 1.5 ply. The Solito jacket I felt at yesterday's fitting was a little softer (another client's, not mine).

Luigi himself wears no padding whatsoever, so the shoulder ends right at the bone. He has very square shoulders though, so I think the style looks good on him.

He also told me that spalla camicia isn't possible with an extended shoulder. I didn't really understand this, tbh (maybe Jeffery can clarify). As I understand it, spalla camicia is about how the sleeve is inserted into the sleevehead, and some tailors use wadding to clean up the waterfall effect. I have some spalla camicia jackets with padding inside. Rubi will do a spalla camicia shoulder, so if they'll also extend it, I assume it's technically possible. Maybe this is the drooping you see on Mariano's stuff.

In any case, Luigi said he doesn't extend shoulders because they would collapse at the end, as he only uses a 1 ply pad.

I'll post some photos of natural shoulders later. I agree, I think the old StyleForum favorite was a very soft, "natural" shoulder that ended closer to the bone. The friend of mine and I were rehashing this same debate, and he sent some StyleForum examples that looked quite good.

 

[ICrane]