The feel of a jacket

What is never apparent from pictures of suits is how they feel on the wearer.

When I hold a jacket, I am as interested in how it feels when squashed as how it looks and the caliber of the workmanship.

I do not like a heavy jacket with an armoured chest. I much prefer a soft, light, springy and supple jacket with a readily deformable shoulder and chest with lots of memory so they spring right back when worn. A light shell of a jacket, not a carpet you drape over your shoulders.

Look at this coach's jackets shoulders. They deform only begrudgingly and sometimes not at all.

But look at this man's jacket shoulders. The chest and shoulders deform easily, but spring right back when the forces are removed.

 

Some of these Japanese coats I have are in fact very soft in the chest but the fabrics are not advanced so there is a dead feel to them instead of the springiness I am looking for. They are soft, but not supple.

I have this hypothesis that the cotton felt used in the chest area makes for the dead, carpety feeling -- as is the use of some grades of chest canvas. A truly springy yet deformable chest canvas backed by a shirting weight twill cotton domette ought to be ideal. Cotton shoulder pads without the pellon muslin and loose hand padding would take care of the shoulders. Obviously, no concave shoulders are possible with pads like these.