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4 buttons or 3 buttons for blazer cuffs

Silver19

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Is the current style generally 4 buttons or 3 buttons on the cuffs of mens' blazers?

(Note the balzer of interest would be a 2 button navy blue wool blazer.)
 

musigny

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In Esquire illustrations from the '30s they often depict sportcoats with two buttons on the sleeve. Was this a fashion of the time, or is this still done?
 

Dragon

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or go with 4 buttons and unbutton 1 or 2 depending on your mood
peepwall[1].gif
 

jml90

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Two for me.
 

Carey

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Old style three button sack suits had two buttons on the sleeve. All of my suits and blazers have four, and I unbutton the first. If I wear the Navy blazer with jeans, then I unbutton two - it gives me that extra attitude.
laugh.gif
 

Silver19

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Carey,

In refererence to your statement "Most blazers have four _ _ _ ", do you mean most blazers have four buttons on the sleeve?

Thanks

Silver19



Most blazers have four _ _ _

Originally Posted by Carey
Old style three button sack suits had two buttons on the sleeve.

All of my suits and blazers have four, and I unbutton the first. If I wear the Navy blazer with jeans, then I unbutton two - it gives me that extra attitude.
laugh.gif
 

Carey

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Originally Posted by Silver19
Carey, In refererence to your statement "Most blazers have four _ _ _ ", do you mean most blazers have four buttons on the sleeve? Thanks Silver19 Most blazers have four _ _ _
That has been my experience. My experience excludes anything italian. I am not a Brooks Brothers or Jos A. Bank traditionalist either; although, I prefer a more traditional towards British tailored look. That probably explains nothing. My recommendation is focus more an quality if you are buying Ready to Wear.
 

TCN

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Two, three at the most, on blazers for me.
 

robert in LA

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Buttons, buttons . . .

The current Prince of Wales wears five on his sleeve. This seems to be the maximum, among the sanely dressed. From time to time I see Austrian, German and Swiss types with one pewter button on the sleeve of a jacket. It works for them. The rest of us, who are somewhat Anglocentric as conservative American menswear tends to be, are somewhere in the middle.

Brooks Brothers did two buttons for years on a casual jacket of tweed or linen and I still have a few of those in the back of my closet and it is a look that still works for many.

But the original question in this string was about 'blazers', which have a British origin in sports club (e.g. rowing) wear, and the buttons were gold-on-brass. Since the jackets were basically, low-end dress uniform jackets, they are easy to wear, hide dirt, and have the effect of sprucing up the appearance of busy people with a minimum of effort. You put one on over what-ever and you are, somehow, 'dressed'. They have become a bit of a cliche, but are too durable a fashion staple to ever really go away. Like the blue, button down Oxford cloth shirt, most of us will always have one and they will always be useful.

Whatever you think of John McCain, he did the blazer no favors by wearing a navy blue one with three gold buttons on the sleeve during his presidential bid. The main problem is that he looked like he had slept in it. Suddenly the blazer which I previously enjoyed, a three button, side vent job, with three on each sleeve, looks a little naked. These days I would probably go with four on the sleeve.

When you wear a tuxedo you don't want to be confused with the maitre d' or the pianist. When you wear a blazer, the same applies. The quality should set it apart, and the buttons should be top grade: cast brass with gold plating. Benson and Clegg in London has hundreds of patterns. A good set may cost 1/3 of what you pay for the jacket. And why not? The buttons will out last the coat many times, and you will always have a blue blazer in the back of your wardrobe for those moments when you need to look presentable in mere minutes.
 

phillyesq

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I just peaked around to the back of my office door, and my emergency office blazer has four buttons on the sleeve. I couldn't even begin to say speculate as to how many sleeve buttons my other blazers may have.
 

RyJ Maduro

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On a two button coat, I prefer four buttons on the cuff. For a three button coat, I like a two-button cuff.
 

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