New to the forum, surprised by some of the fashion/advice

[pkincy]

Originally Posted by LabelKing

I take offense to 4x1 or any 1 buttoned double breasted.

Not that this was what you meant but I was stunned to read a post the other day either here or on AAAC that only one button of a 6x2 should be buttoned.

Maybe I was dreaming.

Perry

 

[Nantucket Red]

Every day I witness Japanese men wearing unbottoned DBs. I feel like scolding these men -- it does such violence to my aesthetic sensibilities -- but I comfort myself that they're the ones looking foolish.

 

[tiger02]

Originally Posted by LabelKing

I take offense to 4x1 or any 1 buttoned double breasted.
Manton recommended 4x1 for a slim DB shawl lapel DJ. The real travesty is 6x1. 4x1 is just a 6x2 rendered minimalist. All very postmodern again

 

[whoopee]

Originally Posted by pkincy

Not that this was what you meant but I was stunned to read a post the other day either here or on AAAC that only one button of a 6x2 should be buttoned.

Maybe I was dreaming.

Perry

This is standard for today.

THe 4x1 shawl does indeed look great. The extra wrap allows the shawl to develop and curve without the misshapen, attention grabbing belly of most shawl lapels on SBs. It also has a more casual air.

 

[justlurkingthanks]

Originally Posted by pkincy

Not that this was what you meant but I was stunned to read a post the other day either here or on AAAC that only one button of a 6x2 should be buttoned.

Maybe I was dreaming.

Perry

Actually, this is correct. If you button the middle button on one side of a six-button DB jacket, it is the equivalent to buttoning only the middle button of a three-button SB jacket, which is the standard.

And, yes, with the possible exception of the shawl tuxedo jacket (and I'm not completely sold on that), the 4X1 is embarrassing, possibly the reason for the DB's downfall. Besides the afore-mentioned girth boom.

 

[pejsek]

What an odd turn this thread has taken! I never would have imagined such disdain, prejudice, and intolerance for that classic mainstay of menswear, the db jacket (both on its own and as part of a suit). Maybe it's because I'm not in business (and, thus, don't run with that highly delineated pack), but from where I sit perched in San Francisco I would never have dreamed that this could be such a big issue. I can understand pondering whether a db might be appropriate for a specific occasion, but to call the whole enterprise into question seems a bit extreme. I also don't think the db can be so dismissively consigned to the ghetto of fat people or old people or thin people, dandies or the sartorially mad. A well cut db jacket--like any well-tailored garment--will flatter nearly anyone not in the extreme margins of physical stature (as Martinis at 8 notes).
Regarding the button issue, I think there's a place for all these styles. The only one I truly don't much care for is the elongated 6X1 buttoning truly on the bottom button. Worn with extreme low vamp loafers and seriously padded shoulders, this was the nightmare of the late 80s/early90s. Even if little seen, the 4X1 is a classic. The four button stance knocks the jacket down just a notch in formality, thus making it particularly appropriate for a country jacket. I have a beautiful 4X1 dark blue flannel suit with white and sky blue pinstripes made by Henry Poole back in the 1970s (double vented and with ever so slightly angled pockets) that is a classic for the ages. I wouldn't wear it to do some serious zero-sum negotiating, but then I don't do that so it's not much of a worry. The 6X2 is perhaps the least contoversial style, having been in fashion for a number of years now. The other interesting version is the 6X1 that buttons on the bottom button but has the lapel break midway between the bottom and middle rows. This is the RLPL cut (at least when PL was being made by Chester Barrie) and I seem to recall reading here somewhere one of these years that it was a resurrection of/homage to a vanished Kilgour cut.
Anyway, let's just show some love to our old and esteemed friend the db jacket.

 

[zjpj83]

I wear double breasted all the time. In New York.

 

[aportnoy]

As do I. As does Manton and Medwards too, I believe. This is a ridiculous precept that DB is somehow out of place is a well dressed person's wardrobe. it's simply a style choice, like it, don't lik it, but I think Prince Charles and the Duke of Windsor have (had) it right.

 

[pejsek]

Okay, but those guys aside....

 

[marc237]

Originally Posted by zjpj83

I wear double breasted all the time. In New York.

Me also. Am today, a nice Corneliani blue pinstipe.

 

[von Rothbart]

Originally Posted by zjpj83

I wear double breasted all the time. In New York.

Ditto, today, Isaia 6X2.

 

[marc237]

I think all of NYC folk, in D/B getting together for drinks or a dinner might start a movement. Reminds me the old Alice's Restaurant refrain:

"You know, if one person, just one person does it they may think he's really sick and they won't take him. And if two people, two people do it, in harmony,
they may think they're both faggots and they won't take either of them.
And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in
singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. They may think it's an
organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day,I said
fifty people a day walking in singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and
walking out. And friends they may thinks it's a movement."

 

[LabelKing]

Originally Posted by tiger02

Manton recommended 4x1 for a slim DB shawl lapel DJ. The real travesty is 6x1. 4x1 is just a 6x2 rendered minimalist. All very postmodern again

The 6x2 rolled is a much better option if at all.

 

[gorgekko]

Originally Posted by whoopee

...nevermind.

Don't give up, you're right.

 

[Teacher]

Originally Posted by Martinis at 8

Nope. They "pseudo-resurrected" due to fatness. Sorry, old Zoot-suit pleats don't count, since Zoots have never been taken seriously.

M8

Pleats were around on suits and other trousers in the 1930's, long before any national weight problem.