Where to find a concave shoulder suit?

[MetroStylez]

I'm looking for a concave shoulder suit. This is the look I prefer:

Left - not right


Great example


A bit too extreme pagoda shoulder, but gives an idea:


Here is one from SF, supposedly Rubinacci



I have naturally squarish shoulders. Nothing too extreme, but certainly not sloped shoulders. Are there any RTW brands that manage to create the concave effect even on someone with somewhat square shoulders? What features create this concavity? Is it carefully placed padding? Natural shoulder? Something to do with the gorge? I can't really figure it out.

From what I've seen, Sartoria Partenopea and Cifonelli tend toward this style, but I don't know of any place in NYC where I can try them on and there's no way I'm going to buy blind for something as specific as this.

Any ideas/guidance?

 

[DapperDan15]

What you are looking for is called 'roping' on a shoulder. It's a feature I favor on all my jackets as well: http://www.styleforum.net/t/245858/shoulder-expression

 

[MetroStylez]

I think you are right that roping helps, particularly with the soft shoulder/roping combo. However I think there is more to it. It's quite possible to have a straight or even convex (rounded) shoulder line on a jacket with roping. So I don't think that completely explains it, even though it can be a key ingredient. For example, the last example I posted may have slight roping but even without it it would be concave.

 

[DapperDan15]

I think you are right that roping helps, particularly with the soft shoulder/roping combo. However I think there is more to it. It's quite possible to have a straight or even convex (rounded) shoulder line on a jacket with roping. So I don't think that completely explains it, even though it can be a key ingredient. For example, the last example I posted may have slight roping but even without it it would be concave.

I see what you mean now. It could be a lack of padding, like in the navy jacket in your example: http://parisiangentleman.co.uk/academy/signals-of-a-handmade-suit-a-shoulder-that-sings/

That article refers to it as a 'Con Rollino' concave shoulder with an unpadded construction. I'm not familiar with the construction methods that are used to produce it, however.

 

[MetroStylez]

Thanks for the link, good sir.

Any other thoughts on the topic?

 

[BullButterfly]

A roped shoulder is the same as a con rolino or cigarette shouder but what explains the concave shoulder line itself is called a pagoda shoulder, using little padding at the very end of the shoulder and depending on your shoulder morphology, some padding over the rest of the shoulder line and possibly a higher collar. I think a dropped shoulder only requires padding at the end (near the rope), unlike a horizontal shoulder line.

Cifonelli has a big rope but the shoulder line is not particularly concave. For this, the specialists are in London Savile Row, and are called Chittleborough and Morgan, and Gieves and Hawkes. But given the complexity of the pagoda shoulder (padding is handmade,...) you would have to go bespoke in both boutiques. Tom Ford's Regency line is meant to have a soft pagoda effect, but that's the James Bond narrow collar line, not everyone likes that one.

I doubt any US house would do it, (it is a little bit extreme) but both UK houses travel to NY.

I wish the Tom Ford Windsor line had a roped, pagoda shoulder,...

 

[sleepyinsanfran]

RTW jackets made for sloping shoulders will usually tend to bunch up behind the neck if you have very square shoulders - so I understand your concern.

but I think the concave-ness in your attached pictures comes from extra padding at the edge or the roped shoulder

If you just want a well-fitting suit for square shoulders (at the lower end) hugo boss tends to fit well.
If you have a higher budget a bespoke or MTM suit should take care of square shoulders

 

[Despos]

Making a concave shoulder is about the canvass. How it is cut and shaped. Roping is how you finish the sleeve head and has no connection to concave/pagoda shoulders. Concave is about shoulder construction and shape. Rope is a style of finishing the sleeves. You can make concave shoulders with or without using shoulder pads. The blue jacket shown above is an example of pagoda shoulders with no shoulder pad.

Go to JefferyD's blog tuttofattoamano.blogspot.com

Under the list of topics click on pagoda shoulder and you will get all the explanation you need; with pictures! You can also click on Despos or Chris Despos under topics on his site. He dissected one of my jackets with concave shoulders and gives more insight.