Can a tailor do anything about the shoulder pads in my suit?
Removing shoulder pads isn’t hard; reshaping an armhole and sleeve head, and resetting the sleeve is pretty tough. You can’t expect a big, square shouldered, fully constructed suit jacket profile to be elegantly refitted to a slim, soft, natural shoulder, simply by removing/replacing shoulder pad material. In the extreme case, doing that will simply result in a droopy looking jacket, which tends to have too much material in the arm holes, having a tendency to bunch under the arms, and open around the neck unnaturally. From the back, it will look like you’re wearing a jacket that is too big for you; the sleeves will be suddenly a little too long, as well. These problems will appear worse if your suit is made of patterned goods, like pinstripe. Here’s the technical page of English Cut, a blog by a Savile Row tailor, with some excellent photos and explanations of fitting markings, which will give you a bit of an idea abou
