Saw a picture of Michael Caine in Alfie recently, and I think I saw his shoulder width being 'dropped' slightly, with quite a bit of billow. It seemed pretty cool. I would consider it.
I've actually noticed the opposite. BB shirts from the 50's, 60's and 70's have a narrower shoulder to shoulder measurement than current ones.
I have a few shirts that have this 'feature' and had been concerned slightly about it, I will now stop worrying and learn to love the shoulder drop.
There are some drawings on the Brooks Brothers website illustrating their various shirt fittings plus measurement charts that may be of interest:
http://www.brooksbrothers.com/dressshirtfitguides/dressshirtfitguides,default,pg.html
The old Makers shirts that are so popular with members on here would generally correlate to the present day 'Traditional', but some are definitely cut more generously than others and I own both kinds. I like plenty of room in a shirt and a bit of billow when tucked in but I do like them to fit across the shoulders and I'm not keen for the period look in the photos. I get fed up with tucking in all those folds of material and voluminous sleeves that crease up when you put a jacket on.
When buying new Brooks shirts, which I do for work, I generally go for the 'Madison' which is a nice balance between super baggy and slimfit but still generous enough to be comfortable.
I believe the narrower yoke is offset by a larger arm hole opening. In terms of chest width the 6 button shirts are actually much closer to the current Madison fit. The shirts must have gotten larger in the late 80s and through the 90s when they switched to the 7 button front.
Here's a couple examples, its Bradley's Etsy shop so I'm sure the measurements can be trusted.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/463427793/brooks-brothers-light-blue-oxford-button?ref=shop_home_active_13
https://www.etsy.com/listing/285738655/brooks-brothers-yellow-oxford-button?ref=shop_home_active_7
Still not seeing ANYTHING image wise via IMGUR on here...yada yada yada..
Quite recently (this century) I measured a load of shirts: pit to pit and waist to waist. (I never thought to do yokes.) Shirts were Makers 6 and 7 buttons and Mercers, but I think the oldest Brooks only dated back to the 70s. It was quite amazing to see the lack of variety in the measurements. I don't think there was more than 1/2" discrepancy between any.
I find any shrinkage seems to be on the sleeves (which do vary a lot on old shirts). I have once or twice had on old Makers that had shrunk a lot, for which reason I couldn't wear it so I got rid.
That's reason I always dry flat.
Those photos show more or less how I wear mine. I don't like the seam too close to the exact shoulder line, or it begins to feel confining.
Same here. I'm on the skinny side and so was wearing form-fitting clothes for a while, but not until I switched to "roomy" brands like Mercers did I realize just how constricting, uncomfortable the stuff was. Never going back.