New blazer - shoulders too wide?

[ezwicky]

I got this blazer locally off the rack about 6 weeks ago, and it seems to me that the shoulders are too wide. The padding kind of sticks out over the sleeve fabric. When I bought it, they shortened the sleeves and changed the buttons, but that was about all they had to do. Would you all mind taking a look at these pictures and letting me know if you see something wrong? I apologize for the quality... my wife was hurrying for work and not in a mood to take her time with the snapshots. I can get better ones tonight if need be.

Thanks in advance for your time and advice,

Eric Z in RVA

 

[breakaway01]

see https://www.styleforum.net/threads/extended-shoulder-supremacy.646078/page-4#post-9817961
The shoulders aren't necessarily "too wide" as the shoulders and sleeveheads look clean; this is a stylistic choice of whether you like the result.

 

[compuccesory]

It is a stylistic choice but this particular blazer is really too wide even for a stylistic choice. The stylistic choices in that thread are between a neapolitan shoulder where the seam of the shoulder rests on the shoulder bone, and the sleeve is a little more generous, vs a Roman style where the sleeve hangs straight down and the shoulder seam sits a little closer to the end of the shoulder. That blazer's shoulder seam is hanging off the end of the shoulder which is larger than any stylistic choice would allow. Even aside from that the blazer is just too large in general, just look at the chest and the back. OP could probably go down two sizes.

 

[breakaway01]

Going to have to disagree. To my eye the sleeve hangs close to straight down from the end of the shoulder. Could try sizing down but to my eye it looks like it fits in the chest and back. I very much doubt OP could go down 2 sizes.

 

[compuccesory]

Look at his left arm in the first pic, the shoulder seam is hanging off the end of the shoulder, there's a divot like halfway down the tricep. Look at how the chest piece is collapsing from how much excess material there is. Going down two sizes might be pretty snug but go down one size for sure.

 

[paxonus]

I would be more concerned about how low the armhole appears to be in the photo where you are holding out your arms.

 

[compuccesory]

I would be more concerned about how low the armhole appears to be in the photo where you are holding out your arms.

It's probably the reason why he's ended up with such a huge garment - he's mistakenly thinking the solution to restrictive low armholes is to size up. A lot of people who buy very cheap suiting end up doing this.

 

[ezwicky]

But a reputable and very expensive men's store here in Richmond put me in that blazer. I am not used to wearing nice clothes... see my introductory post......

Help me decide what to add to my neophyte wardrobe

Hi all, I am 62 years old, have lost 40 pounds over the last eight months and have started to care more about how I dress. I work from home and travel (jeans and t-shirts or polos) and have no need for office wear. I'm interested in advice on what I should add in order to have a...

www.styleforum.net

..... so I have to rely on the advice of the experts. I thought they were steering me right.

It was around $500 which to me isn't cheap. I'm going to take it back and see what can be done. I had my initials monogrammed so I hope that won't keep me from returning it and sizing down.

 

[ter1413]

put on proper shirt. retake pics. repost.

 

[ezwicky]

Thanks. I Will do that tomorrow morning if possible. Or maybe later tonight. Are there any other stances I should be in, in order to help reveal the nature of the jacket structure?

 

[compuccesory]

Thanks. I Will do that tomorrow morning if possible. Or maybe later tonight. Are there any other stances I should be in, in order to help reveal the nature of the jacket structure?

1. If you are taking pictures with your phone, most modern phones have a software timer function in the phone app so you can prop the phone up against a wall and do it yourself, instead of badgering your poor wife to take strangely posed photos for "the internet" like some kind of Anthony Wiener copycat. If I were your wife I would be very suspicious of what you were up to.

2. Here's a series of posts I made explaining the relationship between armholes and mobility:

Upper arm binding when raising arm

Hi folks, I'm new to classic menswear. I'm not sure if I have garments that aren't fitted properly, or if I just have unrealistic expectations when it comes to the flexibility of such. The problem I have is in raising an arm (or both arms) out in front of me when wearing a suit / sport coat /...

www.styleforum.net

Now if the lack of arm mobility doesn't bother you then that's all that matters and ultimately you are the one who decides what is comfortable. However the other poster is just pointing out that the low armhole is characteristic of the $80 suits sold at Macy's or Men's Wearhouse. I've never seen a quality suit jacket or blazer cut in such a manner because they are very uncomfortable to actually wear.

3. Like the others are saying, the blazer is enormous. If you went down at least one size then you would merely be an older librarian with an old jacket that you bought back when you were a bigger more muscular young man. As of right now you look like a teenager wearing his dad's jacket. There are plenty of photos in that other post showing what a properly fitted suit looks like. In particular check out the blazer in the Permanentstyle post.The good thing is that you're a pretty skinny guy so it should be easy to find something that fits.

 

[breakaway01]

Look at his left arm in the first pic, the shoulder seam is hanging off the end of the shoulder,

That is precisely what an "extended" shoulder means. That is, the shoulder extends beyond the body. How much of an extension is appropriate is very subjective and as the other thread discusses, depends in part on one's on morphology. This jacket is more structured and has more extended shoulders than is currently in vogue at SF but again IMO it is not unreasonably so. If the OP does not like it, though, I would understand why.

there's a divot like halfway down the tricep.

A pretty trivial amount in one photo, not seen in the other. To me the sleeves hang quite cleanly -- certainly better than most jackets I see posted here

Look at how the chest piece is collapsing from how much excess material there is.

Can you point out where you see the "chest piece" "collapsing"? I honestly don't see it.

3. Like the others are saying, the blazer is enormous.

Which others?It is not a slim/tight/short fit that is in fashion (unfortunately), but neither is it 'enormous'. Hard to say for sure from a few pictures. Like I said, the OP could certainly try one size down to be sure.

As @paxonus points out, the armholes do seem low. Good point.

 

[breakaway01]

Thanks. I Will do that tomorrow morning if possible. Or maybe later tonight. Are there any other stances I should be in, in order to help reveal the nature of the jacket structure?

Agree with @ter1413 to wear a proper shirt.

Photo from the back would help. Also a frontal photo from chest height, not tilted up or down. Your photos are tilted downwards, which makes your upper body look disproportionately larger than your lower body.

Finally, and I know it's hard, but try to relax. You look very stiff in your photos.

 

[compuccesory]

That is precisely what an "extended" shoulder means. That is, the shoulder extends beyond the body. How much of an extension is appropriate is very subjective and as the other thread discusses, depends in part on one's on morphology. This jacket is more structured and has more extended shoulders than is currently in vogue at SF but again IMO it is not unreasonably so. If the OP does not like it, though, I would understand why.

Fair enough. It looks very odd to me, but perhaps only because it's not a style commonly seen (by me anyway) today. To me an extended shoulder would be what is on the front page of the brioni website, where the shoulder seam ends with a very clean angle just above where the shoulder ends, but not extend beyond it. I don't think that's what the OP has, but I certainly could be misjudging the photos.

I may be biased, because I actually own a suit jacket from years back with heavily structured shoulders that give me a squared off look, but I'm a rather broad shouldered guy so it looks much worse on me proportionally, and so I strongly prefer softer shoulders and more generous sleeves.

Can you point out where you see the "chest piece" "collapsing"? I honestly don't see it.


Which others?It is not a slim/tight/short fit that is in fashion (unfortunately), but neither is it 'enormous'. Hard to say for sure from a few pictures. Like I said, the OP could certainly try one size down to be sure.

As @paxonus points out, the armholes do seem low. Good point.

The way there seems to be a fold across the left side of the chest really doesn't seem right to me when the subject is simply standing straight. Again I have to admit that I may be biased simply because I'm a beefier guy and my jackets just don't hang on me like that. I thought we agreed that he could size down at least one size.

 

[compuccesory]

You know what I'm just going to own it and admit that i was wrong and breakaway01 is right. It's still too big but not two sizes too big. I misjudged it because it's not the style of jacket I personally prefer.