Suits for Broad Shoulders: Why Most Jackets Fail, and the Cut That Fits

If you have broad shoulders you already know the problem. The jacket that fits your shoulders pulls across the back the moment you reach for a door. The jacket that gives you room across the back hangs off the shoulder and swims at the waist. There is no size between the two, because the rack was never built with you in it.

This is not a style problem and it is not a tailor's problem. It is a pattern problem, and the fix is in the pattern. Here is what goes wrong, what an alteration can and cannot do about it, and how a jacket cut to your shoulders is built. If you want the short version and the order page, our athletic fit suits page has both.

Why the rack gets your shoulders wrong

Every off-the-rack suit is cut from a block. The block decides, for each chest size, what the shoulder width is, how wide the back panel is, where the sleeve head sits and how much the waist comes in. A 44 chest gets one shoulder width. A 46 gets one slightly wider. The rack assumes that your shoulders grow in step with your chest, in the same small increments, for every man.

Broad shoulders break that assumption in one of two ways. Either your shoulders are wide for your chest, so the jacket that closes over the chest has a back panel that is too narrow and a sleeve that is set too far in. Or your shoulders and chest are both big and your waist is not, so the jacket that fits the top is a tent at the bottom. Most men with broad shoulders are a bit of both.

What you see in the mirror is the same either way. The back pulls in a horizontal line between the shoulder blades when you move. The sleeve head sits forward of the shoulder point and makes a divot at the top of the arm, or the sleeve twists. The collar lifts off the back of the neck. And if you size up to fix the back, the shoulder seam falls off the bone and the whole jacket looks borrowed.

What a tailor can fix, and what nobody can

An alteration tailor can take in a waist, shorten a sleeve, raise a hem and let out a seat. Those are seams with spare cloth in them, and moving them does not change the architecture of the jacket.

The shoulder is different. The shoulder seam, the sleeve head and the back width are set when the jacket is cut, and they decide where everything else hangs from. Moving the shoulder seam means taking the sleeve off, recutting the shoulder and the sleeve head, and resetting the sleeve, which is most of the work of making a jacket in the first place. A good tailor will tell you not to bother. A less good one will take the money, and you will get back a jacket with a new problem.

So the rule is simple. Buy the shoulders right or do not buy the jacket. Everything else is adjustable. The shoulders are not.

What changes when the jacket is cut to you

A made-to-measure jacket has no block assumption to break, because the pattern starts from your numbers rather than from a size. For broad shoulders, four of them do the work.

Shoulder width, point to point. The seam is placed at the edge of your shoulder bone, where it belongs, without padding on top of it. You already have the width. A padded shoulder on a broad frame reads as a costume.

Back width across the blades. This is the measurement most off-the-rack jackets miss and most alteration tailors cannot add. Cut to your back, the panel lies flat when your arms are at your sides and has room when you reach forward, and the collar stays down on the neck.

Chest and waist, cut separately. The jacket closes flat over the chest with no pull at the button, and the waist is shaped in rather than left to hang. That is the drop, and it is cut into the pattern instead of taken in afterwards.

Sleeve set to your shoulder. With the shoulder point in the right place, the sleeve hangs straight from it, with no divot, no twist and a half-inch of shirt cuff showing.

Get those four right and the jacket does something the rack never managed: it makes broad shoulders look like an advantage instead of a fitting problem.

Lapels, buttons and the double-breasted question

Once the fit is right, proportion is what makes it look considered.

Lapel width. A narrow lapel on a broad chest looks undersized and makes the shoulders look even wider. A medium to wide lapel, in proportion to the shoulder line, balances it. The same goes for the tie: a skinny tie under a broad shoulder line reads as a mistake.

Button stance. A two-button jacket with the top button at or just below the natural waist gives a long V down the chest and keeps the eye moving vertically. Avoid a high three-button stance on a broad frame; it shortens the chest and widens the look.

Double-breasted. This is the one many broad-shouldered men are told to avoid, and it is bad advice. A double-breasted jacket cut properly, with wide peak lapels and the waist shaped, gives structure to the torso and balances the shoulder line. The reason it fails off the rack is the same reason everything fails off the rack: the drop. Cut to you, it is one of the strongest looks a broad frame can wear. If you want one, say so at the appointment and we will build it.

Shirt collar. A broad frame usually comes with a bigger neck. A spread collar sits in proportion to the shoulders and the lapel, and a custom shirt gives you the neck size you actually have without the body of the shirt ballooning to match.

Cloth

You put more strain on the seams than most men, and a broad back pulls on the cloth every time you reach. Lighter cloth that drapes does better than anything heavy and stiff. Our wool blend with a little stretch woven in, from $1,049, gives the back some give without looking like a performance fabric. A Super 120 wool, from $1,299, drapes over a big frame instead of adding to it and runs cooler if you run warm. Both are described by weight and drape rather than ranked; every cloth we carry is a good one, and the right one depends on where you wear it.

How we build a jacket for broad shoulders

We take 21 measurements, in our studio or at home with our measurement form and two photos. Shoulder width, back width, chest, waist, bicep and sleeve are each their own number, and the pattern is built from all of them at once rather than adjusted from a size toward them. Our Owner and Founder, Derek Burbidge, and our team read every set of measurements against the photos before anything is cut, and come back to you if one looks off. Production takes five to six weeks. Suits start at $899, and shipping across Canada and the United States is included.

Not sure what cut, lapel or cloth suits your frame? Start with a Wardrobe Plan, a one-to-one session with our Owner and Founder, Derek Burbidge, on your build, your colouring and what you wear it to. You leave with a written plan for what to buy and in what order.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best suit for broad shoulders?

One cut to your shoulder width and back width rather than sized up to them: a soft, unpadded shoulder with the seam on the bone, a back panel cut to your back, a shaped waist and a medium to wide lapel. Off the rack, the closest you will get is a jacket that fits the shoulders and is taken in at the waist, and even that leaves the back narrow. Made to measure removes the compromise.

Can a tailor fix a jacket that pulls across the back?

Not properly. The back width and the shoulder seam are set when the jacket is cut, and moving them means rebuilding the top of the jacket. A tailor can let out a centre back seam by a small amount if there is cloth in it, which buys a little room and usually throws the balance off elsewhere. If the back pulls, the jacket is the wrong pattern for you.

Should broad-shouldered men wear padded shoulders?

No. Padding adds width to a frame that already has it and makes the jacket look like it is wearing you. A soft, natural shoulder that ends at the bone shows the width you have without exaggerating it.

Are double-breasted suits good for broad shoulders?

Yes, when they are cut to you. The wide peak lapels and the shaped waist balance a broad shoulder line and give the torso structure. They fail off the rack for the same reason single-breasted jackets do, which is the chest-to-waist drop, not the style.

What lapel width suits broad shoulders?

Medium to wide, in proportion to the shoulder line. A narrow lapel looks undersized against a broad chest and makes the shoulders read wider still. Match the tie width to the lapel.

Can I order a suit for broad shoulders online?

Yes. You choose the colour and the cloth in the online shop, fill in our measurement form and send two photos. Our Owner and Founder, Derek Burbidge, and our team check your numbers against the photos before anything is cut. Production takes five to six weeks, and shipping anywhere in Canada or the United States is included. Our athletic fit suits page walks through the four steps.

*The cloth and lining in the photos are examples. Linings are chosen with you, fabric books change without notice, and any substitution is of the same standard and close in colour.*