How easy is it to remove shoulder pads from jackets?

[Pigtailsandall]

So, I can't hold a needle in the slightest but I've found a fabulous mens wool vintage tweed jacket (possibly a riding jacket) from a charity shop. It's the right size, slightly boxy which I'm ok with, but the shoulder pads are MASSIVE. How easy is it for a good tailor to remove them? Or am I looking at a £50 alteration bill?

And does removing them really change the shape of the jacket dramatically?

It should be a fairly straightforward case of unstitching the lining and snipping out the pads ( which are usually only held in by a few stitches themselves) and rest itching the lining, but the jacket may look a bit 'slumped' once out if the rest of the jacket is formal looking?

Restitching, not rest itching!

It's usually an absolute doddle. Unpick a tiny bit of the lining, pull the shoulder pad through and snip the couple of stitches holding it in place. VERY occasionally the pad will be more firmly attached but can still be removed. Stitch up the lining of you want to be tidy. I've removed many many shoulder pads in my time as I like 80s clothes, but think removing the pads makes them more wearable for now. It's never been the wrong decision, but easily reversible if it was.

I did this with a lovely dress I bought many years ago. Snipping out the shoulder pads was easy. But the shoulders of the dress were designed for shoulder pads and I couldn’t work out how to make it right. The dress has been in the attic ever since.

They say every women needs to have a good tailor/seamstress. I think you need an experts advice here. I’m sure you would be able to get a quote first.

Straightforward enough to take them out yourself. As LadyOfTheCanyon says, the bigger issue is you could be left with a big empty space which might look odd. And fixing that would be tricky as you'd be talking about reshaping shoulders and armholes. I'm trying to do something similar at the moment and it's a fucker. A decent tailor should be able to do it but they'll charge accordingly, although it could still be worth it for the right jacket.

Thank you all. The jacket is £30 so even with a tailor's fee it's a good deal for a wool jacket. I couldn't find anything in the shops for the same price/quality.
I'm going to take a punt on it

You may need to insert some smaller pads to avert the slump

Keep the shoulder pads, and come back here for advice with photos of the jacket on, and the pads.

After reading all the advice I am a out to remove the pads from a leather jacket that has been in the wardrobe for many years, l hope it works!