Adding a third button

[cmp]

I have a suit, which is a few years old and has a "low stance" 2 button closure. Otherwise, the cut of the suit is fine. Is it possible to turn the jacket into a 3 button simply by adding a button and button hole above the current top button? Will this mess up the jacket? It looks to me that a third button spaced as the current two buttons are would fall in just about the right place.

 

[Alias]

Well, it depends on the "belly" of the lapel.

Most lapels aren't cut straight and instead have some "belly" added to them. For this reason, if you really wanted to convert your jacket, you'd have to have the extra material cut out.

And then there's the issue of the lapel roll. I'm sure you can do wonders with pressing, but if they're visibly pad-stitched you're going to have little pinpricks showing when you button the top button.

 

[Classic]

I had this done to a suit jacket that originated as a 2 button and it looks like it was always a 3 button.
Having no expertise in the matter, I took the suit (along with 2 others) to the tailor, and from the three, only one could be done.
In less then 2 weeks, I had a "new" suit. The tailor even changed the buttons so that they all matched.
Take the jacket to a tailor and see what they tell you.

Classic

 

[Len]

The problem with this alteration is that the collar, which regulates where the lapel actually rolls to, will shorten if you add a third button and simply try press the lapel to position. If there is fabric under the collar you might be able to lengthen it to alleviate the problem.