The shape of a shoulder

Ask someone why a jacket looks wrong and they will usually point at the length or the colour. Move the shoulder seam a centimetre and the same person will tell you the jacket has been completely redesigned.

Three decisions

The shoulder is really three decisions taken together: where the seam sits relative to the body, how high the sleeve head is cut, and how much ease is worked into the cap. Change one and the other two have to move.

A high sleeve head with a close armhole gives the clean, upright line of tailoring, and restricts the arm. A low head with a deep armhole gives ease and a soft drape, and collapses into folds when the arm is down. Neither is correct. They are answers to different questions.

Where we land

Our patterns sit slightly outside the natural shoulder point with a moderately high armhole — enough extension to read relaxed, enough height to keep the sleeve from dragging the body when you lift your arm. It is a compromise, and we make it consciously in every garment.

The knitwear is the exception. There we knit the shoulder through with no seam at all, because a seam under a coat creates a ridge you can feel all day.