I've got broad shoulders, so no shoulder padding for me.
A trick I used to keep the curves on top from showing as much was to design the vest so it only fastens until mid-back. Because it's open in back on the bottom part, it will naturally kind of hang straight down rather than curving over the...curves. There's no padding because I didn't like how it felt. Instead, there's just a gap under there. I *didn't* leave open the vest I made for the last tutorial, and you can tell in the pictures where I'm wearing it. The gap method worked for me, anyway.
A trick I used to keep the curves on top from showing as much was to design the vest so it only fastens until mid-back. Because it's open in back on the bottom part, it will naturally kind of hang straight down rather than curving over the...curves. There's no padding because I didn't like how it felt. Instead, there's just a gap under there. I *didn't* leave open the vest I made for the last tutorial, and you can tell in the pictures where I'm wearing it. The gap method worked for me, anyway.