Fit, measuring and alterations · 5 October 2026 · 3 min read

Broad shoulders: why sizing up to fit them fails

Clothes that fit broad shoulders: women who size up to clear them end up swamped everywhere below. Why that happens, and the three numbers to send instead.

Inspiration

Why the bigger size fails

Sizing up fits broad shoulders and nothing else. A size chart ties every measurement to the bust, so the size that finally clears your shoulders also comes with a bigger bust, waist and hips, wider sleeves and extra length, and you are left wearing a kameez made for someone larger all over. The answer is to have the shoulders cut to your shoulder measurement and everything below cut to its own.

The arithmetic of sizing up

From one size to the next, a typical chart adds about 5 cm to the bust, waist and hips, as the reference sizes on our size guide do, but often only around a centimetre to the shoulder width. So if your shoulders are 3 cm wider than your bust size allows, you would have to go up about three sizes to gain it. That brings roughly 15 cm of extra fabric round the body that you never asked for.

This is the mirror image of the problem in our guide to narrow shoulders, where the size that suits the bust is too wide on top. In both cases the chart assumes one proportion and the wearer has another.

Signs the shoulders are too small

Tops that are tight at the shoulders and loose at the waist tell the same story from the other side: you bought for your shoulders and the rest is too big. In your true bust size, look for these.

The shoulder seam sits on the slope of your shoulder, short of the bony point, and the top of the sleeve is stretched over the point instead.
Tight creases across the top of the sleeve, running from the seam towards the outside of the arm.
The back feels as if it will split when you reach forward or drive.
The neckline is pulled wide, because the shoulders are borrowing fabric from it.
The armhole cuts in at the front although the bust is comfortable.

The numbers to send

Three measurements describe the top of the body, and a size chart guesses all of them. Give your true bust, waist and hips as well, however small they look beside the shoulder number. The point of made to measure is that they do not have to match a chart.

Shoulder: across the back from one shoulder point to the other, where a seam would sit. It is required on our form and hard to take alone; measuring with a helper shows what to ask of them.
Upper back: across the shoulder blades from one arm crease to the other, with your arms hanging. This is what gives you room to reach.
Sleeve top: your armhole and upper arm. Broad shoulders often come with a larger arm joint, and a sleeve cut for a smaller frame binds even when the shoulder seam is right.

What a made-to-measure cut does differently

With your own numbers, the shoulder seam lands on the shoulder point, the back is wide enough to move in, and the side seams run in from there to your actual bust and waist. Nothing is taken in afterwards, so the proportions look intended. If you own a kameez that suits your shoulders, even one that is too big elsewhere, measure it from shoulder seam to shoulder seam; using a kameez that fits as your template explains how.

Mention anything else you have noticed, such as “jackets never fit across my back”. Design details and measurements are agreed in writing before cutting. Custom stitching explains the service, and the quote form takes centimetres or inches.

Common questions

Should a shoulder seam sit exactly on the shoulder bone?

On a kameez with set-in sleeves, yes: the seam should cross the bony point at the outer end of the shoulder. Drop-shoulder, kimono and raglan styles are designed differently and have no seam there, so the rule does not apply to them.

Do broad shoulders need a wider neckline?

No. Neck width and shoulder width are separate. In ready-made sizes they grow together, which is why a larger size often has a neckline that gapes. In made to measure the neckline stays the size you choose while the shoulders are cut wider.

Is the shoulder measured across the front or the back?

Across the back, from one shoulder point to the other, where a seam would sit. Measured across the front it usually comes out smaller, and a kameez cut to that number will be tight.

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