Rope Shoulders on Canali Suits

[Martinis at 8]

I saw this today while shopping and I absolutely HATE it!

M8

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

It's a period "vintage" feature, though.

 

[Martinis at 8]

It's a period "vintage" feature, though.

I think it's come and gone several times in the past. I was surprised the new Canali suits would be sporting this. I will continue to purchase Canali, but without the ropes.

M8

 

[Tumbleweed]

In which I present a dissenting opinion.

Roped shoulders are amazing, I love them.

If I had my way, all my suits would have roped shoulders you could lose an eye on, jutting out like perilous razor blades. People would scream and bleed in the street in the wake of my passage.

'Higher! Sharper!' I would screech at my tailor, as he chokes back sobs and staunches his wounds.

Clearly I've thought this one through.

 

[Feraud]

I am in the "Love It" camp!

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I'm a fan of subtle roping. This, for example, from Hideki Okisaka:

bk

 

[Mr. Rover]

That's about perfect roping. Most of my vintage jackets have very subtle roping just like that- nothing to bring unneeded attention but you miss it when it's not there. Any larger, and it'd be too showy for a men's jacket.I don't know why, but a real natural shoulder that goes straight from shoulder to sleeve looks wrong to me. Makes the shoulder look to round, whereas a roped shoulder squares it off, which i prefer.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I haven't yet come across a vintage jacket with roped shoulders. All i've seen like this are the catalogue illustrations, which always appeared like caricatures.

bk

 

[Mr. Rover]

Then maybe most of my jackets are just poorly pressed?
Actually- now that I look at it, the shoulder roping probably came from repositioning the shoulders when getting altered.

Am I getting roped and natural shoulders mixed up? Are there other kinds of shoulders in the mainstream (Not neopolitan pleated or shirt shoulders...)?

 

[Dagwood]

Do roped shoulders require the armholes to be higher?

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Not that i know of.

bk

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Ray, do you mean shoulders like this? See the slight extension beyond the shoulder seam.

If so, this is what the innards look like (below). The shoulder seam is pretty much at the same level as the end of the crimson lining.

Someone who knows more about tailoring please tell me. Is this how roped shoulders are constructed? It just look to me like an extension of the cotton padding of the shoulder pad.

bk

 

[Dagwood]

Baron:

I found this explanation at one of those tailoring web sites: "Rope Shoulder is Hand stitching with strong sewing thread or rope at armhole and neckline seams makes these areas more secure. The construction process of this feature also dictates that the sleeves be mounted on top of the shoulder rather than in line with the shoulder. This results in the sleeves creating a "rim" on the sleeve head where it is mounted on the shoulder. This rim results in a slight lift to the shoulder line towards the end of the shoulders."

 

[Baron Kurtz]

This here is what that jacket looks like. There's no way i'd never describe these as roped shoulders:

bk

 

[Mr. Rover]

Baron, I have a '33 suit with a shoulder like that. The wadding is covered up, but I can feel it. When worn, it looks like a rounded smooth curve from shoulder to sleeve.


Natural shoulder from what I've gathered is the typical Brooks Bros. shoulder.

This would be a roped shoulder- you can feel that wadding beneath the hump.

Now, what kind of shoulder is this?

Hangs like Kurtz's, but has a bump on the shoulder when worn.


EDIT:
Nevermind- I found a whole thread about this on London Lounge- first time I've need to stop there in months. Basically, the theory is all suits with an open-seamed natural shoulder start off with a rollino- or the bump at the shoulder- and it's ridded of by the tailor pressing the shoulder seam flat. So, if you like a flat, rounded shoulder, just press it flat?
In retrospect, that means that I only have 2 suits with a true roped shoulder with padding. The rest are just left with their natural shoulders unpressed.

 

[Feraud]

A double breasted jacket I have has a bump from the shoulder to the sleeve.
I can try to get a picture of it this evening if possible..

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I haven't yet come across a vintage jacket with roped shoulders.

Below is a tuxedo (once mine, now sold) from 1946. The maker was "Studio Clothes - Macintosh," whose jackets always had insanely long darts, sharply angled lapels, and seriously roped shoulders.

 

[Matt Deckard]

I'm a fan of roping as well. Sometimes it goes to far and you get the toy soldier look. Zegna has a prety high rope on some of their jackets.

 

[Mr. Rover]

Borrowed from Fedora Lounge:
This shoulder is like how my '33 fits:

Pchong, I hope you don't mind me borrowing your picture of Okisaka from London Lounge.
Roped shoulders:

 

[Tomasso]

I've always thought roped shoulders to be very dressy, might have something to do with their military roots.