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J Press suits - shoulders

Phil

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I was browsing through J Press in NYC the other day and tried on one of their suit jackets. Odd thing I noticed was the amount of shoulder padding it had. "Natural" shoulder to me means practically no padding, or none at all. I was thoroughly suprised at how much padding the J. Press coat had. I thought they were strict adherents to the natural shoulder look. Would anyone with more experience with J. Press comment on this please?
 

T4phage

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I was browsing through J Press in NYC the other day and tried on one of their suit jackets.  Odd thing I noticed was the amount of shoulder padding it had.  "Natural" shoulder to me means practically no padding, or none at all.  I was thoroughly suprised at how much padding the J. Press coat had.  I thought they were strict adherents to the natural shoulder look.  Would anyone with more experience with J. Press comment on this please?
Wouldn't this question be answered by the "trads" over at AA? J.Press seems to be a iconic store to them? I agree with you of your definition of "natural" shoulder (at least how the Italians/SR would do it), but that may not be the same definition that the "trads" go by...
 

Phil

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I would have asked over there, but for some reason I cant sign on.
 

STYLESTUDENT

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Phil,
There was a discussion on Ask Andy among the trads that complained about the padding in the J Press jackets and suggested that a more traditional sack suit could be found through MTM Southwick or MTM Andover Shop. The suggestion is that the change to the J Press product is pretty recent. The thread is also fairly new but I can't seem to find it again.
 

Fashionslave

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That's curious-I have a JPress suit (English worsted cloth) and I think the shoulders are as natural as any Savile Row suit I've owned.Zero shoulder padding whatsoever.
 

novalis

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I've heard that Press recently switched over to a Canadian manufacturer and is still working out some issues on the shoulder construction.
 

Phil

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I am pretty loyal to RL MTM, which has served me well over the years. I love their shoulders. Id be more than happy to give J Press a shot, but those shoulders were ridiculous. I was disapointed, especially since J.Press is held in such high esteem over at AA. The whole thing strikes me as weird though. Those guys are so adamant about the amer. trad style, yet somehow simply ignore the fact that those huge shoulders are so out of line with that aesthetic. Perhaps I will stop into the Andover Shop next time I am up in Boston.
 

GreyFlannelMan

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In the last month or so, I purchased two items from J. Press: a Harris tweed sport coat and a standard grey suit.  

The shoulders on the suit are indeed non-padded and look great.  The suit is made in Canada.

On the other hand, the tweed has a fair amount of padding .  When I tried it on in the store, it looked fine, but perhaps I was distracted by its excellent sale price.  Dressing for work one morning, I put on the coat, looked at myself in the mirror and thought, "this looks quite odd on the shoulders." They were very boxy and large.  

I am considering taking the coat to my tailor to rework the shoulder, but not sure of the cost or difficulty of such measures.
 

Chris H

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In the last month or so, I purchased two items from J. Press: a Harris tweed sport coat and a standard grey suit.  

The shoulders on the suit are indeed non-padded and look great.  The suit is made in Canada.

On the other hand, the tweed has a fair amount of padding .  When I tried it on in the store, it looked fine, but perhaps I was distracted by its excellent sale price.  Dressing for work one morning, I put on the coat, looked at myself in the mirror and thought, "this looks quite odd on the shoulders." They were very boxy and large.  

I am considering taking the coat to my tailor to rework the shoulder, but not sure of the cost or difficulty of such measures.
I have a similar problem with a J. Press blazer which purchased last spring. The padding on the top of the shoulder is markedly thicker than my other J. Press jackets. I was wondering if it is possible to reduce the thickness of the padding without spoiling the line of the jacket. Does anyone know if this can be done?
 

j

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I opened up and semi-recklessly tore out the shoulder padding from a camel hair jacket I have, and it actually looks much better now. The whole operation only took an hour and a half or so. It shouldn't be that big a deal, especially for a non-first timer. The only part I had a problem with was getting the shoulder 'rope' piece lined up properly, but I managed it.

Unfortunately the jacket still suffers from over large armholes and drapey big sleeves. Those will be my next drastic experiments.
 

Horace

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(GreyFlannelMan @ Feb. 09 2005,05:33) In the last month or so, I purchased two items from J. Press: a Harris tweed sport coat and a standard grey suit. Â The shoulders on the suit are indeed non-padded and look great. Â The suit is made in Canada. On the other hand, the tweed has a fair amount of padding . Â When I tried it on in the store, it looked fine, but perhaps I was distracted by its excellent sale price. Â Dressing for work one morning, I put on the coat, looked at myself in the mirror and thought, "this looks quite odd on the shoulders." They were very boxy and large. Â I am considering taking the coat to my tailor to rework the shoulder, but not sure of the cost or difficulty of such measures.
I have a similar problem with a J. Press blazer which purchased last spring. The padding on the top of the shoulder is markedly thicker than my other J. Press jackets. I was wondering if it is possible to reduce the thickness of the padding without spoiling the line of the jacket. Does anyone know if this can be done?
Let me check mine. I have yet to take it (tweed jacket) into have it altered. It's the Canadian make that I bought in the Fall. I'll compare it to the suits I have. It doesn't seem to be freakishly padded though. But slightly more than Press's usual stuff, if I recall. And I actually am not a fan of the no-pad, sack. I much prefer the JFK Southwick/Brooks/Metro-Andover myself. But Press is great too. Good news: I hear that Press is going back to the American maker for their standard heavy oxford cloth bd's with flap pocket. But price will go up accordingly but not unreasonably, I think.
 

Chris H

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Let me check mine.  I have yet to take it (tweed jacket) into have it altered.  It's the Canadian make that I bought in the Fall.

I'll compare it to the suits I have.

It doesn't seem to be freakishly padded though.  But slightly more than Press's usual stuff, if I recall.

And I actually am not a fan of the no-pad, sack.

I much prefer the JFK Southwick/Brooks/Metro-Andover myself.

But Press is great too.

Good news:  I hear that Press is going back to the American maker for their standard heavy oxford cloth bd's with flap pocket.  But price will go up accordingly but not unreasonably, I think.
I too have one of the new Canadian tweed jackets, this seems to have about the right amount of padding but the shoulder-ends seem to be squarer than the traditonal J. Press cut. I think this is quite a nice jacket, if a little heavily fused.
Regarding the current Brooks Brothers sack jackets the shoulders are a little wide for me and removing the padding makes the jacket 'droop' at the shoulder. I think the right way to go is maybe to use a very thin shoulder pad.

My tailor here in the UK is making me an undarted, natural shoulder sportsjacket in an airforce blue herringbone tweed. This style is unusual for tailors to make over here so I've taken along some vintage jackets in this style for him copy. I've asked for a true 3-button rolling to the second button. It will be fully canvassed using the lightest Zegna canvass available for a 'soft' look. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.
 

GreyFlannelMan

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Interesting....glad to know I'm not the only one with issues with the sport jackets.  Chris H, you described it perfectly: the shoulders are much more square than I'm used to, and it's not altogether flattering for me.  I also noticed the heavy fusing.

I do quite like the new grey suit from J. Press.  It fits well, and the shoulders do not have the squarishness of the jackets.  But I think I've become used to a degree of padding/shaping in the Paul Stuart suits I've taken to over the last few years.
 

jimda24

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I definitely found that true in recent years too...part of it may be the Canadian maker that is not up to snuff with Southwick in my opinion. The other thing is I think there has been a trend to add more padding in general....but for the olove green summer poplin suit I got, it ends up making it a hotter/heavier suit, which is not what we want in a summer suit, also the increased amount of fusing or canvassing makes it a less comfortable fit all around....too bad....
 

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