Spalla Insellata

The shoulder is arguably the most discussed and the most controversial element of a tailored jacket; the whole garment hangs from the shoulder, and the shoulder receives much of the strain from movement. There are perhaps as many ways of constructing, or “expressing” a shoulder as there are tailors, but there area few general shapes, or silhouettes. Some of the names have become muddled throughout the years, but I am going to chiefly examine one of them. Known as the “spalla insellata” because of its resemblance to a horse saddle, it is also known as a “spalla incavata” (concave shoulder) or pagoda shoulder, for obvious reasons. In the 30s the Apparel Arts referred to a natural shoulder as having a concave line, not the round one most often referred to today as a natural shoulder.

As a sartorial junkie you start to obsess about the most minor of details.

It starts with basic stuff like sleeve lengths and having your pants hemmed in just the right way, making sure you get the perfect break.




At a later stage, you want your jackets to have the correct 'drop', make sure the backside follows the lines of your body and at certain moment you will surely start to obsess about what might be the holy grail of tailoring: the Shoulders.




Shoulder styles change from time to time, and every tailor has it's own signature style.

Myself, I love the concave shoulder style or just perfect straight shoulders, but I really hate any type of sloping shoulders.




Of course, when buying off-the-peg or even Made-To-Measure, you just have to accept the shoulders are tailored to fit as much people as possible. And also, a lot of people don't like stuff like concave shoulders... Even Savile Row suits often show some sloping. A lot of people actually seem to like the slope...




When going bespoke you can of course select features like concave shoulders. I'm just not sure who does a good concave shoulder these days. Of course fashion designers adopt the concave or pagoda style from time to time.

Bottega Veneta Autumn/Winter 08/09

If you want to read more about shoulder styles, check out these links:

- Ruth la Ferla's, Men's Style; SHOULDER SHIFTS (Published: Sunday, February 3, 1991)
- Cal Fussman finds his perfect suit, made by Mr. Fioravanti (with concave shoulders)
- London Lounge on shoulders
- StyleForum on the pagoda shoulder