Buttoning your jacket

[Matt Deckard]

Good morning fellow FL members, it is late in the morning as I have been going over some past posts and need to address and ad to some topics, here is one that I don't think has been covered in depth and needs some discussion.

Starting with Single breasted suits.

Most SB suits are made on a cuttaway so you leave the bottom button undone.

There are suits made without the cuttaway and a higher button stance

though unless the button stance is higher like on some 20's suits, I always leave the bottom button on a single breasted jacket undone.

If the suit is made with a cuttaway style where the bottom button is not meant to be fastened then it could cause the chest to bulge out, altering the balance of the suit.

When the button is at a higher stance and tailored to function then it looks fine.

With a single breasted jacket: You should be able to sit with your jacket buttoned (if you are thin enough) and if the jacket is made to have the bottom button fastened it will not ride up...

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

Also there is the issue of vests, waistcoats, sweaters and the like being worn under the jacket. If one of the above is worn there is really no need to button the jacket although you can if you want to. I think a three piece suit or a jacket worn with a sweater vest often looks better with the jacket left unbuttoned.

 

[Wild Root]

Yes and no vlad. I'm more of a guy who likes his coat closed. But, I have to agree with the three piece suit with the coat open. I like that look only if it's single breasted. If it's a DB suit, got to be closed!

Cheers,

Root.

 

[Mycroft]

I agree with Root. Acording to my tailor with 3-button, single breasted ones, to look modern button the middle one only, but I was raised to do the top two and never to have a DB without it buttoned.

 

[Matt Deckard]

The Double breasted jackets just hang funny when undone, though if you are tired and ready to unwined go ahead.

For a DB that has two visable functional buttons on the front if the stance is higher you can button the top and lower button. If the stance is lower stick to the top button only, and always fasten the inside button.

In the 20's and 30's you would see some men only fastening the lower outside button and letting the lapel have a longer roll to the top. Pictures are needed.

 

[Matt Jones]

In the 20's and 30's you would see some men only fastening the lower outside button and letting the lapel have a longer roll to the top. Pictures are needed.

Like this:

 

[Wild Root]

That's it!

Good image! Got to love Esquire!

Root.

 

[Chad Sanborn]

I always wondered about the top button. It is just something I have always done, because it looked better that way. Good to know I have been right all this time.

Chad

 

[Senator Jack]

Here's the topic I've been looking for.

I've been wrestling with this one for twenty years - what to button. When wearing a two-button SB, while walking, I always have both buttons done. I know the bottom button being undone is the correct way, but for some reason if I see someone coming toward me with the jacket done in this manner, the composition appears off. But if the hands are in the pants pockets, then the composition is right again. It's something about the way the jacket just flaps around, especially on a windy day.

I constantly receive comments from people that while I look sharp, my buttoning is wrong. I suppose I just like clean lines and the break caused by the bottom being undone fractures that line. This is why I like single button jackets. No issues.

I agree with Matt about the DB. Unbuttoned, it looks ridiculous. But because of the bulkier front, I've found dining in a buttoned DB is fairly uncomfortable. Everything bunches up with every lift of your fork. Perhaps it is also because of the cut but when I see anyone dining in a DB it looks like they're about to leave at any moment. I usually resort to hanging it on the back of the chair which is less horrible if the pants allow me to wear suspenders.

Kind regards,

Senator Jack

 

[Matt Deckard]

It's much easier to sit with vintage Double Breasted suits. One reason is the armholes being cut higher and because of this this shoulders don't rise, another reasson is because they usually button higher on your chest.

 

[Matt Deckard]

bump

 

[Rooster]

Good morning fellow FL members, it is late in the morning as I have been going over some past posts and need to address and ad to some topics, here is one that I don't think has been covered in depth and needs some discussion.

Starting with Single breasted suits.

Most SB suits are made on a cuttaway so you leave the bottom button undone.


There are suits made without the cuttaway and a higher button stance

though unless the button stance is higher like on some 20's suits, I always leave the bottom button on a single breasted jacket undone.

If the suit is made with a cuttaway style where the bottom button is not meant to be fastened then it could cause the chest to bulge out, altering the balance of the suit.

With a single breasted jacket: You should be able to sit with your jacket buttoned (if you are thin enough) and if the jacket is made to have the bottom button fastened it will not ride up...

I occasionally will run with scissors, for a thrill, but not as often with a revolver....lol
SB's I button both buttons whilst standing. I unbutton one, usually two whilst sitting. DB's I always leave the top buttoned no matter what, and unbutton the lower whilst sitting. All of my DB's are vintage, so there are no restrictions in movement.

 

[Vintage lover]

I was taught to never button the bottom buton.

 

[Benny Holiday]

Most SB suits are made on a cuttaway so you leave the bottom button undone.

There are suits made without the cuttaway and a higher button stance

though unless the button stance is higher like on some 20's suits, I always leave the bottom button on a single breasted jacket undone.

When the button is at a higher stance and tailored to function then it looks fine.

This explains why I prefer to have both buttons fastened on my zoot suit coats even though I always fasten only the top button of two on other single-breasted jackets. The longer jacket either has much less of a cutaway or is squared off at the bottom and having both buttons fastened suits the style much better.

 

[Benny Holiday]

DB jacket, top fastening button done up, bottom not:

Doing up the bottom button doesn't look right to me.

 

[Edward]

How does this translate for waistcoats? I have always habitually leftthe bottom button undone on a waistcoat, butI've never been able to figure out when this is "correct."

 

[Anthony Jordan]

How does this translate for waistcoats? I have always habitually leftthe bottom button undone on a waistcoat, butI've never been able to figure out when this is "correct."

Always on a single-breasted waistcoat, the only exception being the low-cut "mess" waistcoat style, as worn with evening dress.

 

[Edward]

Always on a single-breasted waistcoat, the only exception being the low-cut "mess" waistcoat style, as worn with evening dress.

Ah! Thanks.

Amusingly, i just last night looked closer at the black moleskin waistcoat I often wear in the office. I've had it well over a decade, and while all the other buttons have the classic depression on the fabric where the buttons have pulled down on it over the years, there's not a mark on the bottom one, which I don't think I've ever actually fastened.

Re mess-style, that makes sense - it would look odd, and with the typical cut of those, it wouldn't offer anything of the relaxed fit at the bottom that makes it sit better while seated.

 

[Undertow]

Rooster, I don't think that's a revolver; I think it's a cigar.

When you mention the inside button on a DB suit being done or undone, are you referring to the invisible button that's literally inside the coat after closing the front? Or are you referring to something else?

And when left undone, is this a bad look? Does it look disheveled, in your opinions?

 

[Sefton]

Speaking of DB jackets;I've seen many photos of men in the 30's~50's era wearing the top and bottom buttons done up and It looks-in my opinion-just fine. Now maybe it was only the editors of fashion magazines and the like who disapproved of this. I would say if it doesn't cause the jacket to bulge or crease in an unattractive manner it really doesn't matter. I've also seen numbers of men with the DB left open and well...that's another can of worms entirely...