I ordered a made to measure suit, but the shoulders don't fit. Wondering if I should go bespoke inst

[lullemans72]

Hi everyone,

As the title says, just today, I ordered a made to measure suit at a large chain store here in Japan where I live.
I've been planning this purchase for several months now, so I was totally looking forward to this.
I paid about 55.000 JPY, (or roughly 550 USD for you guys on the other side of the pond), which was slightly above my budget of 500 dollars. I spent about an hour with the staff discussing suit styles, sleeve and pant length, and all that jazz. It was a very enjoyable experience, the staff worked very professionally, and I was so hyped about finally getting my first made to measure suit as opposed to those off the rack ones that never properly fit me, especially in the shoulders.

However, what caught my attention when looking at the shoulders with my soon to be suit, was that I saw the same shoulder divots on the jacket as I've seen with my other three off the rack suits. I told the shop staff that the shoulder divots bothered me and said something needed to be done about it, and he responded with "this will actually always happen in your case, sir". I prompted for more information, and he said that I have shoulders that are shaped slightly inwards as opposed to being straight.

Suddenly, it all made more sense now; this is exactly why the shoulders from the off the rack suits I own never fitted me properly. I kept finding it odd that those suits I owned always had the jacket shoulders tilting backwards and not following the natural shape of my shoulders, but now I realize that all this time that the issue wasn't the jacket, but my own shoulders that didn't fit the straight jacket shoulders.

Honestly, I feel pretty down about this, because I know that shoulder fit is the most important part of fit in a suit. Paying a premium price like I did for a made to measure suit if the jacket won't be tailored to my slanted shoulders just seems like a waste of money. The company has a full refund policy if the customer isn't satisfied, but I'm wondering whether I should really wait 1,5 months for a result I know won't be satisfactory. Seems like a waste of time and resources for both myself and them.

Hence, I would like to know whether I should just go ahead and cancel the order now, and use that money to pay for a bespoke suit instead (albeit twice the price of what I paid of course....). Also, I'm not really sure whether this is just the natural shape of my shoulders, or if this is due to bad posture. If the latter is the case, I could potentially do exercises to improve posture, but if this is just how my shoulders are shaped, then no exercise will really help much.

For what it's worth, I work an office job in Japan that requires me to be sitting down most of the time. When I'm at home, I usually also spend long hours in front of the computer.

Thanks for reading. Opinions or advice on this is well appreciated.

 

[lodemia]

Not all MTM or MTO suits have this problem, like all things it depends on the level of customization. Higher end MTM programs allow you to compensate for sloping or square shoulders, as well as posture.

If you weren't blown away by something that was made to your exact measurements, cancel/take it back. MTM done correctly will feel like a second skin.

Someday, I'll get off my lazy but and take pictures of myself in Rack, MTM, and Bespoke, they can all fit good without shoulder divots.

There are things you can do in full bespoke that you can't always get in MTM programs, like unconstructed shoulders, etc, but with good tailoring the fit will be very close between the two. If you're not getting "the fit" go to someone else.

 

[lullemans72]

Thanks again for the reply, lodemia.

Just to update on the situation; I ended up cancelling the order the next day because of the shoulder issue. I offered to pay a supplement to get the shoulders taken care of but they said they don't do that.

I tried on some other jackets but it was pretty much the same thing. However, there was one jacket with very thin shoulder padding that fit very nicely too. Almost perfect fit on one shoulder but a tad bit off on the other. So I might consider such jackets for future reference, even if they are less formal.

 

[lodemia]

I'm becoming a fan of jackets without shoulder pads. I have two suits and one jacket made that way. Took a while to grow on me.

Good luck, there's an answer out there. Just find the right tailor and you'll get something you're happy with.

 

[dluce76]

I have read that the shoulder divots are due to the arm hole not being wide enough for your shoulder, which I guess sloping shoulders could exacerbate. When it isn't wide enough, the horizontal pressure from your shoulder pulls the vertical fabric down, creating the divot.

There are definitely MTM that can take care of this. I use Oliver Wicks - they have some issues like any other MTM, but divots they do not (can do totally unstructured shoulder and adjust for the way you hold your shoulders).

 

[lullemans72]

Yeah, I was surprised how well near paddless jackets fit. Thanks for your support, lodemia!

I have read that the shoulder divots are due to the arm hole not being wide enough for your shoulder, which I guess sloping shoulders could exacerbate. When it isn't wide enough, the horizontal pressure from your shoulder pulls the vertical fabric down, creating the divot.

There are definitely MTM that can take care of this. I use Oliver Wicks - they have some issues like any other MTM, but divots they do not (can do totally unstructured shoulder and adjust for the way you hold your shoulders).

Yeah I read that article about the armholes too, which Jose Zaniga from teachingmensfashion also spoke about.

I live in Japan by the way, so I'm not familiar with the brands that you mentioned, but I'm going to keep looking to find the best deal. Although I cancelled the suit this time, it was a valuable learning experience for me.

 

[Aloysius16]

I have forward pitched and rounded shoulders, on one side in particular. I have found Corneliani and Corneliani-made Polo Ralph Lauren jackets to fit me on the shoulders much better than other brands, of course, we are all individual and different, but it might be worth a try if you see these.

 

[Ravistailor]

In almost all cases, a bespoke suit will take care of all the issues with shoulder slopes and neck slopes.
Shoulder and neck needs to be cut right to fit right.
MTM and OTR will never actually fit quite like a bespoke suit.
In your case, I would recommend your looking into finding a good custom tailor who does full bespoke work and get a suit made by them,
Thanks