Double-breasted question.

[Gaige]

I see that there's apparently no "standard" way in which a double-breasted jacket is closed...

By this I mean (and I may have trouble explaining this) that some close "right over left" and others are "left over right", in regards to the front of the jacket.

Can anyone (provided you have a clue as to what I'm blathering about) tell me if it means anything at all?

EDIT: I just realized this may be more appropriate in the "jacket" section... my apologies.

 

[Orgetorix]

I see that there's apparently no "standard" way in which a double-breasted jacket is closed...

By this I mean (and I may have trouble explaining this) that some close "right over left" and others are "left over right", in regards to the front of the jacket.

Can anyone (provided you have a clue as to what I'm blathering about) tell me if it means anything at all?

EDIT: I just realized this may be more appropriate in the "jacket" section... my apologies.

For men's jackets, the standard (from the wearer's perspective) is left over right. Right over left is for women. Since many Ebay sellers are women, they often close them backwards when they're taking pictures.

 

[scotrace]

Correct. Left over right for boys.

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

The reason usually given is that "back then", I man would button his coat himself, and left over right seems to be the more natural way for the right-handed majority of people, while a woman would have a maid do this. No idea if this is true.

(As an aside, in some Jewish sects, coats and jackets are buttoned the other way around, too. They innovated this in order not to imitate non-Jewish customs - and ended up imitating non-Jewish women's customs. Ah, you just can't do it right.)

 

[Baron Kurtz]

There are also stories of military types drawing their swords (worn on left). If the jacket was buttoned right over left, the opening could impede the drawing of the sword - the hilt would get caught under the flap and the right-over-left buttoner would be slaughtered mercilessly by his reverse-buttoning opponent.

Most likely apocryphal . . .

bk

 

[Tomasso]

left over right seems to be the more natural way for the right-handed majority of people

But, doesn't left over right force a right handed man to use his left hand to fasten the buttons while his dominant hand lays idle?

There are also stories of military types drawing their swords ......the opening could impede the drawing of the sword.....slaughtered mercilessly by his reverse-buttoning opponent.

Most likely apocryphal . . .

It's plausible.[huh]

 

[Baron Kurtz]

It's plausible.[huh]

Most definitely, and the same story is used for the buttoning of a SB jacket. As with most apocryphal stories: they are plausible, hence they get propagated.

I've just become wary of mens sartorial lore.

bk

 

[Orgetorix]

But, doesn't left over right force a right handed man to use his left hand to fasten the buttons while his dominant hand lays idle?

Not at all. I'm right-handed, and I use my right hand to fasten the buttons. The outside ones, anyway. I still haven't become very adept at fastening the inner one on a DB jacket.

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

Not at all. I'm right-handed, and I use my right hand to fasten the buttons. The outside ones, anyway. I still haven't become very adept at fastening the inner one on a DB jacket.

Though I also think the usual way is easier for me as a right-handed man, that might be because we're used to it.

 

[Cobden]

I was always told that left over right was done by men as it was easier, whilst women buttonned right over left as a way to prevent...how shall I say.."wayward masculine hands".

However, the more I think about it, the dafter it seems...

 

[Tomasso]

I'm right-handed, and I use my right hand to fasten the buttons. The outside ones, anyway.

Interesting. I'm right handed and I always use my left hand to button both SB and DB coats, with the exception of the jigger button on the DB where I usually have to use both hands. I may be the odd ball on this, it wouldn't be the first time. [huh]

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Clumsy me needs both hands for all buttons.

bk

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

Buttoning my jackets' (middle/upper) button when I get up from a chair and unbuttoning when I sit down is something I do whitout even noticing, hardly more than a glide of my left hand. But as I said, that might be simply because of habit or conditioning, not necessarily because it's natural.

(edit: I'm not saying only the middle button of three, or the upper one of two, should be buttoned.)

 

[Tomasso]

Clumsy me needs both hands for all buttons.

Funny, I use both hands when buttoning shirts but only one for jackets and coats, unless windy conditions or the act of walking requires me to use my right hand to stabilize the button side. Maybe this subject calls for a POLL!!!!

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I use my left hand thumb and forefinger to position the buttonhole atop the button, and the thumb of my right hand to push the button through.

bk

 

[Gaige]

Baron, I do that the exact same way.

And thank you all for the responses; I know left-over-right is standard for menswear, but with these pictures of double-breasted suits being shown either way (coupled with the fact I've never owned one), I was a bit confused.

 

[Senator Jack]

This is the formula I use to determine exactly how much force I should use to do my buttons. Unbuttoning is the same, but you start with the solution and work backwards.

I hope that helps.

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

Yes, this is the standard formula people unfortunately ceased to apply in the late fifties. (The American one, that is - we here in the Old World have a slight variation, the origins of which probably lie in the British army.)

 

[Senator Jack]

Yes, I believe the Brits use gamma instead of lambda.

 

[Tomasso]

the origins of which probably lie in the British army.

lol