In the world of tailored clothing, there are houses that are, in my opinion, seriously overhyped, and others who deserve a lot more attention than they get. Chris Despos falls into the latter category. Based now in Chicago, Chris once operated out of Dallas, a city he frequently travels to, in addition to others, so if you are looking for one of the country’s (perhaps one of the world’s) top tailors outside of the ManhattanRead More
Category: pagoda shoulders
We’ve seen the shaping that goes into the canvas. We’ve seen the shaping that goes into the pad. Everything that was done to these bits has to be done to the cloth too, but we don’t have the luxury of cuts or darts to impart the shape. This is the part that freaks out some novices, and the thing that makes this kind of shoulder really bad news for factories. To get the kind ofRead More
In this step we will make the shoulder pad for our pagoda shoulder, and this is where we start to see the beauty of the contours of this shoulder come to life. Shoulder pads are another controversial subject mainly due to the excesses of the eighties but they can play an important role. The high, square-shouldered figure should avoid them, while the sloping-shouldered figure will benefit from a bit of enhancement (the wonder-bra for theRead More
Preparing the canvas The shoulder is arguably the most discussed and the most controversial element of a tailored jacket; the whole garment hangs from the shoulder, and the shoulder receives much of the strain from movement. There are perhaps as many ways of constructing, or “expressing” a shoulder as there are tailors, but there area few general shapes, or silhouettes. Some of the names have become muddled throughout the years, but I am going toRead More
Karen asks about how to construct a pagoda shoulder, but first, a bit of background. Initially known as a “natural” shoulder as it followed the natural curved formed by the hollow between the clavicle and the acromion, the term has been appropriated to denote the round, sloped shoulder seen on Ivy League suits of type sold by Brooks Brothers, Southwick, Paul Stuart, and the like. If we no longer see the pagoda shoulder very often,Read More
I don’t know why I have always hated the term “pagoda shoulders”, but I do. Spalla insellata sounds a little better if you speak Italian but sounds pretentious to those who don’t. Well, whatever. But to something more important. I think that the survival of our craft depends not only on the propagation of the technique but also the survival of our suppliers. It’s getting harder and harder to find the necessary stuff for makingRead More