Shoulders cut

[lestat]

Hi all,
congratulations for the forum and the contributions, precious to someone new to the field like me.
Probably thanks to age, I am switching more and more from a casual clothing style to a more formal one, in which I am a total novice.
My problem is that I have very broad, extremely straight shoulders and a muscular breast (I am 180 cm 80 kg): it could sound ok, but reality is that, in most suits, I end up looking more or less like a packet of cigarette.
Can any of you advice any tailor/brand whose suit could fit a body type like mine, especially concerning the shoulders area? I am especially interested in italian ones, since I have occasion to travel frequently there.

 

[johnnynorman3]

Ebay seller world*class*consignment may have some St. Andrews suits left in your size (maybe not). Anyways, that cut is apparently a virtually padless shoulder, so it won't make you look like a box.

 

[A Harris]

Thanks for the plug, johnnynorman3

The unpadded shoulder is the right idea, but those St. Andrew's won't have nearly enough waist suppression for him. It's a tough one - you are going to have trouble with shoulder padding, or shoulder width, or drop, or possibly all three. Going to Italy is a good idea - the suits will be cut a lot slimmer there, and you will primarily have to worry about shoulder width...

 

[TomW]

Lestat,

I sympathize with your predicament. I suffer very nearly the same issue - to a slightly lesser degree - I wear a size 43 jacket (roughly 45-46" at the chest) share your broad and fairly flat shoulders along with a 33" waist. Finding RTW suits which fit is difficult - the best for my particular situation have been Zegna and Vestimenta with minor alteration, and a few others with more extensive work. The only perfect solution for me has been Made to Measure or bespoke - both of which are rather a bit more expensive. The absolutely worst thing is a traditional American Sack suit - much too much excess fabric under the arm, the waist and hip.

 

[johnnynorman3]

Thanks for the plug, johnnynorman3

The unpadded shoulder is the right idea, but those St. Andrew's won't have nearly enough waist suppression for him. It's a tough one - you are going to have trouble with shoulder padding, or shoulder width, or drop, or possibly all three. Going to Italy is a good idea - the suits will be cut a lot slimmer there, and you will primarily have to worry about shoulder width...

Yes, I was wondering about the waist suppression as well. What about taking in the suit an inch or two at the waist. Really what I was thinking though is that too severe of a waist suppression may give to much of a V look for his taste, and that the real culprit in the "cigarette box" look was not the lack of waist supression, but rather a too squared shoulder. Additionally, I think it will be very important to get a fully canvassed suit -- IMO a fused suit's biggest problem is that it looks and drapes boxy due to the stiffness. And, Andrew, your goods plug themselves.

 

[LA Guy]

Get an Armani suit - everyone else on the board slags him, but his soft shouldered, crepe suits are perfect for a big guy. The use of crepe, in particular, softens all those sharp angles. Vestimenta uses a lot of the same crepe for their house brand suits, which is probably why they work well for TomW. This may not be intuitive, but get a suit with moderate rather than severe waist suppression (English style.) The former will flatter your athletic shape. The latter may may you look like a cartoon character.

BTW, purportedly, all of the governator's suits are Armani, and he cleans up pretty well - and he used to be Mr. Universe.

 

[retronotmetro]

BTW, purportedly, all of the governator's suits are Armani, and he cleans up pretty well - and he used to be Mr. Universe.

LA Guy, where did you hear that? I've read articles that say his suits come from a tailor in BH--I forget which one. At any rate, he would not likely fit any mainstream RTW (maybe even MTM depending on the pattern base), so I would have thought custom to be much more likely.

 

[A Harris]

This may not be intuitive, but get a suit with moderate rather than severe waist suppression (English style.)

This is true. Perhaps I should clarify. What usually happens is that very fit guys with big shoulders end up buying a suit that is a size or two large, because the shoulders are too narrow on the smaller sizes. Not a good look. I suppose I'm really not helping here though, am I. Lestat knows this already...

 

[lestat]

Thank you all for your advices.
I´ll give a try to Armani, hoping to find a good tailor to make some modifications. However, I´ve read that most Armani on eBay are fakes. How true is that?

 

[Alias]

Well, you'll have to wade through the blatant fakes, and then you'll have to wade through the items misrepresented as Giorgio Armani (the Mani diffusion line is a very popular item to sell on eBay as an Armani.)