American Gigolo: the film that took the stuffing out of the suit
Updated October 2026 · Sam’s Menswear editorial team
Before 1980, most men’s jackets were built like furniture: a padded shoulder, a stiffened chest, a full lining, a shape that stood up on its own. Then Paul Schrader’s American Gigolo put Richard Gere in jackets that hung and moved like a heavy shirt, and a lot of men discovered that tailoring could be soft.
The scene people remember has Gere’s character, Julian, laying out jackets, shirts and ties and choosing between them by eye. It is a man enjoying his clothes, which on screen in 1980 was a small revolution of its own.
What did American Gigolo change about the suit?
Most of Julian’s wardrobe came from Giorgio Armani. What matters to anyone having a jacket made is what changed in the cut.
- The structure came down. Lining and padding were reduced, so the jacket followed the wearer’s own shoulder instead of building a new one.
- The cloth was chosen to move. Light wools, wool and silk mixes, and linen, which hang in soft folds from the shoulder and shift as you walk: what tailors call drape.
- The colours went quiet. Greige, taupe, stone, grey and soft blue, worn in tones of one family, so a whole outfit looks considered without any one piece shouting.
Does unstructured mean no shoulder at all?
No, and this is the most useful thing the film teaches. Look closely, as the BAMF Style site has, and the Gigolo jackets still have some padding in the shoulder and a slightly raised, roped sleevehead where the sleeve meets it. The softness comes from using less of everything. Strip the canvas, the pad and the lining out entirely and a jacket can collapse at the shoulder and hang like a bathrobe.
When a tailor talks about a soft jacket, he means a set of choices:
| A soft, draped jacket | |
|---|---|
| Shoulder | Natural, following your own line, with a thin pad or none |
| Sleevehead | Clean, or lightly roped if you want a little shape where sleeve meets shoulder |
| Chest | Half canvas, so the front has life without stiffness; never fused, which goes flat and rigid |
| Lining | Half or quarter lined, sleeves lined so your arm slides in |
| Front | A slightly low button and a long lapel roll, so the front falls open softly |
| Cloth | A wool, wool and silk or linen blend that hangs rather than stands |
Fully canvassed vs fused explains what sits inside the chest and why it matters to the drape.
Will a soft jacket make me look sloppy?
It can, and that is the fear worth taking seriously. A structured jacket hides a lot: a sloping shoulder, one shoulder lower than the other, a narrow frame. A soft jacket hides almost nothing, because it follows the body underneath exactly. Off the rack, on a body it was not cut for, the soft look turns into a jacket that is simply too big.
The film itself proves the point. The part was first meant for John Travolta, and according to BAMF Style, when Gere took it the clothes were re-tailored for his different build. Even the most famous soft wardrobe in film had to be cut to the man wearing it.
Three checks tell you whether a soft jacket fits:
- The shoulder seam ends where your shoulder bone ends. With no padding to hold it up, any overhang droops into a dent at the top of the sleeve.
- The collar hugs the back of your neck when you stand naturally. A gap there grows as the day goes on.
- The fronts hang straight down when the jacket is open. If they swing apart or cross over, the balance is wrong for your posture.
If your shoulders slope, say so. A thin pad on a soft jacket levels a sloping shoulder without making it look built, and that one adjustment is the difference between relaxed and slumped.
Where can you wear it in 2026?
Almost anywhere a jacket is welcome and a tie is optional. A soft jacket in stone, taupe or soft blue, over an open collar or a fine knit, works at a summer wedding by day, on a patio, at a relaxed office and on a plane. It is the coolest jacket a man can own in a Toronto July, which is why the patio suit is built the same way.
What to tone down: the full head-to-toe greige of 1980, unless you are sure of it, and very wide pleated trousers. Keep the tonal idea and pick colours from one family; colours that suit you helps you find yours. A soft jacket also creases. Linen and unlined jackets wear their day, which is part of the look, but hang it on a broad hanger every night and give it a day off between wears.
How do you get the soft cut made?
Tell Sam you want a soft shoulder and as little lining as the cloth allows, and say how you will wear it: over a T-shirt, over a shirt and tie, on a plane. Sam’s unstructured jackets and casual pieces are cut to your frame, measured at the studio in Vaughan or at your office or home on request, in three to four weeks. Sketch it first in stone linen with pleated trousers, very 1980: draw the Gigolo jacket. Then book a time and wear the shirt you would put under it.
Where the details come from: BAMF Style on Julian’s grey jacket and The Rake.