How Jacket Shoulder Slope Should Fit

How It Should Fit: Resting flat along neck and shoulders

A proper Shoulder Slope should match the natural angle of your shoulders. Whether you have broad, squared, rounded, or sloped shoulders, Proper Cloth offers six Shoulder Slope adjustments to meet most variations of shoulder shape and sizes:

• Raised Shoulders +0.4″
• Raised Shoulders +0.3″
• Raised Shoulders +0.2″
• Standard
• Lowered Shoulders -0.2″
• Lowered Shoulders -0.3″

The Shoulder Slope setting is set to Standard as a default on all sizes. This is something that will work for most people, as it has been optimized to work for most body types. If you notice wrinkles behind the collar or fabric creasing near the shoulder area, however, your jacket will need a Shoulder Slope adjustment.

Perfect Jacket Shoulder Slope: No bunching behind collar or gathering under armpits

The goal is to achieve a Shoulder Slope that lays smoothly along the shoulders, upper chest, and sleeve head. There should be no wrinkles behind the collar or pull lines from the armpits towards the back of the neck.

Signs You Need the Lowered Shoulders Adjustment

Lines running from the armpits up towards the back of the jacket collar are a sure sign that you should lower the Shoulder Slope of your jacket. If you have sloped shoulders but are wearing a jacket with shoulders that are not sufficiently lowered to match your build, the garment may also appear to float above the edges of your shoulders. This may also present as a divot at the head of the jacket sleeve where it meets the shoulders. If you have the Shoulder Slope set to “Standard,” you will want to change it to one of the “Lowered” settings.

Choosing between Lowered Shoulders -0.2″ and Lowered Shoulders -0.3″ depends on how steep the slope of your shoulders is. Generally, the more extreme the slope of your shoulders the more you want to lower the shoulders of the jacket. Lowered Shoulders -0.2” will lower the shoulders of the jacket by 0.2″ from “Standard”. Lowered Shoulders -0.3” will lower the shoulders of the jacket by 0.3″ from “Standard”.

Signs You Need the Raised Shoulders Adjustment

Rolls or bumps behind your jacket collar usually indicate that you should apply one of the Raised Shoulder Slope adjustments. If you have broad or square shoulders and are wearing a jacket that has too much slope or the Shoulder Slope is set to “Standard,” your shoulders may push the jacket up. Since the jacket’s shoulder angle is too steep for your shoulders, it can cause the fabric to float above the neck which manifests as wrinkles below the collar. If you have the Shoulder Slope at “Standard,” you will want to change it to one of the “Raised” Shoulder Slope settings.

Choosing between Raised Shoulders +0.2,” Raised Shoulders +0.3,” and Raised Shoulders +0.4” depends on how flat the angle of your shoulders is. Generally speaking, the more prominent the bump below the collar, the more drastic the change necessary. The Raised Shoulders +0.2” setting raises the ends of the shoulders by 0.2″ from “Standard”. Raised Shoulders +0.3” raises the ends of the shoulders of the jacket by 0.3″ from “Standard.” Raised Shoulders +0.4” raises the ends of the shoulders of the jacket by 0.4″ from “Standard.”

Jacket vs. Shirt Shoulder Slope: Should they be the same?

The Shoulder Slope setting of a jacket should not necessarily match the Shoulder Slope settings for a shirt. If a customer has a second or third-degree slope adjustment on their shirt size, however, this may be an indication that a single-degree adjustment is needed for the jacket size. In other words, a more extreme shirt slope adjustment suggests the possibility that a small jacket slope adjustment is needed.

Local Tailoring: Can a tailor adjust my Shoulder Slope?

A tailor can easily adjust the shoulder slope of a jacket that needs a Raised Shoulders adjustment. A Lowered Shoulders adjustment will require a remake, however, as this change affects the jacket’s structure noticeably. We recommend submitting a Fit Advice Request to get custom size recommendations for a potential remake.