Boss Blazer - Pagoda Shoulder Jasika!
Looks like it’s time for what has become my annual blog post! I thought I’d share some details of my pagoda shoulder blazer.
A little history? Pierre Cardin is the inventor of the pagoda shoulder. The name refers to the cornices of Chinese towers. Cardin created new shoulder silhouette that dipped from the collar along the shoulder line, before rising again several inches from the edge. They became popular in styles for both men and women. Pierre Cardin himself was known for wearing the bold shoulders throughout the 1980s.
Pagoda shoulders later became a signature for Alexander McQueen, particularly in his menswear, but they were more subtle than the Cardin style.
Today the pagoda shoulder may be most commonly associated with Balmain, who often uses a highly exaggerated and sculptural version of the design.
Which brings us to my jacket – the fabric is Balmain deadstock from Selvedge and Bolts, so I thought I would do something with some Balmain flair.
I started with the Jasika blazer by Closet Core Patterns, which I’ve made before. I made a muslin to test the shape of the shoulder. I wish I could tell you that it was anything more complicated that using a French curve to draw in the shape, but it wasn’t. I started at the midpoint of the shoulder seam to draw in the curve on the front shoulder, drew the same shape on the back shoulder, and matched the peak height on the upper sleeve piece:
And that’s all there is to it, sorry if you were expecting something more complicated!
The Jasika blazer is a fully tailored blazer, including hair canvas, so I extended all interfacing to match my new pattern pieces. I did make sure to trim the hair canvas from the seam allowances to reduce bulk. The construction is as it would be for a standard sleeve, except that I did not need to sew basting stitches to ease in the sleeve cap, and I pivoted when I got to the shoulder seam for a nice point.
It looked interesting at that point but it was going to need a shoulder pad, so I did some research and found this great video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqRI6fsOHZ4
This actually shows how to do a shoulder start to finish if you’re interested. I used it for the shoulder pads, which I was having trouble visualizing until I watched this. You basically make a 3-D tent shaped pad using the pointy sleeve shape and then the base using the standards sleeve shape. I stuffed it with cotton quilt batting and the result is this:
These are hand-sewn into the jacket along seam allowances before the lining is installed.
I have to say, I love this look. You can make it as subtle or exaggerated as you want. You can do a full tailored blazer or use a more simple pattern; it works with a one-piece sleeve or a two-piece sleeve. It can be suiting or denim or leather/faux leather….the only limitation is how many pagoda sleeved jackets do you need in your wardrobe?!
Now that I know how easy this is I will definitely be adding a few more versions to my jacket collection.Would you try this or is it not your style?
