Another question related to a sport coat I want. Should I get 17 or 17.5 inch shoulders?
My shoulder measurement is 17 inches. My chest is 36. Should I get 17 or 17.5 inch shoulders?
33 Replies
Some of the tailoring guys will be along with better info than me but you don't want to buy to match your measurement. How much bigger you want will depend on the jacket and how you want it to look.
Are you buying MTM or RTW?
RTW
Can you try on? There's no substitute really for trying, taking pics deciding how you want the fit to look.
No it's something I'm buying, I see advice online about how shoulders should fit and some people say to buy .5 larger than your shoulder measurement
Yeah it's great as a guideline but there's no guarantees with going by measurements
What's worked well for me was getting half an inch larger only when it's a more structured shoulder. Soft shoulders look pretty odd when it droops (arms not filling it?)
The blazer I really want has light padding on shoulders
Would wait for someone with more confidence to chime in. My sport coats have a .5 inch variance, so I feel like you'll be safe, but I have nothing to back that up
It's a 17 inch shoulder
The one that I want has that shoulder measurement
Yea, I just meant I fit fine in exact and in ones half an inch larger.
Ohhh okay
That's good though that you fit in exact
No existing coats to compare?
No unfortunately
The ones that I have to get rid of were way too large in shoulders
Does where you're buying from have a decent return policy?
The one I want is secondhand so no returns for this website but I also have some saved on ebay which does have return policy
So you're rolling the dice a little. It's difficult with a brand or fit that you don't have experience with. Like I know a 40R in PRL that's relatively modern will fit me perfectly but it's 38R from other brands, even though the measurements can be almost identical on their pages. If you're going for a vintage sport coat you also have the variable that the person selling hasn't done the best job in the world measuring. You said the ones you're getting rid of, the shoulders were too large, do you know the measurements on those?
Yeah I had a PRL sport coat that I had to return. It was too big overall. Shoulders were 18
Size 38S
And then a Pronto Uomo suit jacket someone got for me. It was 40S and 18" shoulders
You have a ceiling then. What size is the tag on the one you're looking at?
36S
My chest is 36 exact
Oh right, are you measuring shoulderbone to shoulderbone?
Yes
About 17 inches for me
Same size as me... I feel like either should work then.
But that's just what I've found for myself
It is very risky to buy a sport coat secondhand that you can't return when you don't know your measurement. Shoulders can also vary by an inch or so depending on padding level. I'd go to a story and try on some lightly padded sport coats / suit jackets until one fits you well, and measure the shoulder on it
Yeah it is risky and I should probably find one I can return easily for free if it doesn't fit
I'll look at more sport coats online that I can return
Yep. There is a wide world of secondhand sport coats out there, this one isn't your only opportunity to buy one you like
Why not go in person?
And even being careful you'll probably get burned at some point
i can't right now because i don't have much near me
but when I buy a suit I definitely will go in person
There's no mall or menswear store within an hour of you?
I'm leaving again to go back to college in two days and I won't have a car at college so I can't drive places but there is a formal store nearby the college that I could look at
Buying online is fine if you can afford to experiment, return, be disappointed etc.
but if you NEED a jacket it's probably best to start local
I can afford to do that
I don't NEED one right this second
But it would be good to try on in person too
I just think it's much preferable to be able to go in person and try/measure like 3 sizes right away than order online just to try on and then go through the return process (really inefficient use of labor and shipping networks)
But if you literally can't go in person it's probably your best shot
Yeah and I'll take my time with looking around