Single breasted peak lapel – style rules

[Butterfly]

There is absolutely no rule about having four sleeve buttons, and there never has been. Just another clothes forum myth. I dislike five buttons but I would say go ahead and have five if you want, kissing or non-kissing. Three buttons, two, or even one button are far more elegant in my opinion (and each of those has abundant historical precedent over the last hundred years if that matters to you).

 

[Geezer]

Originally Posted by Hoogie

Hi All,

I intend to get a single breasted made-to-measure suit in the near future and wanted to get some feedback on the design choices I was intending to go for in order to ensure I wasn't breaking any style rules, please can you guys confirm that I'm not making any faux pas with the below design:

Style: Single breasted two buttons
Lapel: Peak lapel
Vents: Double vented
Pockets: Slanted flapped, no ticket pocket
Cuff: Five kissing buttons
Trousers: No pleats
Fit: Slim fit

In addition I was interested in what people's general opinion was of having five cuff buttons? I have heard some people say it should always be four buttons without exception but at the same time I have also come across some people who think that five buttons are really smart. In my mind if the buttons are kissing then four can look like to few so five makes good practical sense in this case.

Also I have noticed that some people are wearing suits which feature bright coloured stitching around the outside of one of the button holes on the cuff or around the hole on the lapel. What are the views on this? Is this simply a case of making a statement that the suit is made-to-measure or bespoke?

Thanks for any feedback

OP - hope this helps.

I'm neutral on peaked lapels. I've been toying for a while with the idea of a peaked lapel SB. My reservation is that it's been on-trend for a couple of years and judging from what I see around me, has now become common in the mass market. In a couple of years, will it look dated? Hm.

Five buttons is one too many. Kissing buttons are an abomination. Contrast stitching anywhere is an abomination, unless you are a character on a children's TV show.

Every SB suit or odd jacket I have had made since 1987 has had hacking pockets. I even have a DB suit with hacking pockets. There is nothing wrong with them. They are still a rather English look if that matters to you.

Ticket pockets are nice, and useful as a place to keep tickets. Or a cigarette lighter.

Unless you are short, you need turn-ups on your trousers. Suits look unfinished without them.

Pleats are "out". Tough. All my suit trousers have them. Good pleats make your trousers fit and hang better and are more comfortable. If you are wearing a jacket pleats are unnoticeable except to people who stare intently at men's crotches. In which situation you probably have a bigger problem than whether pleats are "in" or "out".

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Originally Posted by Geezer

OP - hope this helps.

I'm neutral on peaked lapels. I've been toying for a while with the idea of a peaked lapel SB. My reservation is that it's been on-trend for a couple of years and judging from what I see around me, has now become common in the mass market. In a couple of years, will it look dated? Hm.

Five buttons is one too many. Kissing buttons are an abomination. Contrast stitching anywhere is an abomination, unless you are a character on a children's TV show.

Every SB suit or odd jacket I have had made since 1987 has had hacking pockets. I even have a DB suit with hacking pockets. There is nothing wrong with them. They are still a rather English look if that matters to you.

Ticket pockets are nice, and useful as a place to keep tickets. Or a cigarette lighter.

Unless you are short, you need turn-ups on your trousers. Suits look unfinished without them.

Pleats are "out". Tough. All my suit trousers have them. Good pleats make your trousers fit and hang better and are more comfortable. If you are wearing a jacket pleats are unnoticeable except to people who stare intently at men's crotches. In which situation you probably have a bigger problem than whether pleats are "in" or "out".

You are flip flopping between citing rules of fashion and tradition. I have one word for you; Huntsman.

 

[Will]

The classic peak lapel SB is a semi-formal suit for day wear, one step below the stroller.

It has double vents, one button or two, and jetted pockets.

Ticket pockets and slanted pockets are certainly possible but detract in my opinion.

 

[lasbar]

Originally Posted by patrickBOOTH

You are flip flopping between citing rules of fashion and tradition. I have one word for you; Huntsman.

+100000000000000000000000

And Richard Anderson.

 

[George]

Originally Posted by Will

The classic peak lapel SB is a semi-formal suit for day wear, one step below the stroller. It has double vents, one button or two, and jetted pockets. Ticket pockets and slanted pockets are certainly possible but detract in my opinion.
I think it depends on the cloth. I have tweed coats cut with DB lapels, hacking and ticket pocket and IMO, they look good. On a hard worsted, no-ish.

 

[Geezer]

Originally Posted by patrickBOOTH

You are flip flopping between citing rules of fashion and tradition. I have one word for you; Huntsman.

Yes, I am.

I don't think this is a bad thing.

Because both are factors.

And I don't believe there are "rules" - only traditions, and certain basic aesthetic principles.

At their worst, tradition is stultifying and fashion is fatuous.

Traditions are important.

So are trends, which exist even at the most conservative end of the spectrum. Back in the day, when every joker had decided wearing a stripey shirt was "it", I suddenly found myself buying plain colours. I have a drawer full of Jermyn Street ties with little animals and so on on them that were the dogs' when I bought them in 1995, but now seem dated. And so on. Like it or not, those are trends, or fashions.

I define traditional as "would my very correctly-dressed father wear this?" and fashionable as "would David Beckham wear this?", not as "this was common before my father was born" and "dig it bro, it's the latest".

My objection to 5-button cuffs and contrast stitching, and my undecideness about peak lapels on an SB is precisely that they are currently fashionable, but not, in any meaningful sense, traditional.

To me, the OP's question boils down to what balance he should select between traditional (notch lapel, 4 cuff buttons, no funny colour stitching) and fashionable (all of those). My answer boils down to "err on the side of tradition - but not to the point of tedium".

I suspect we actually agree with each other quite a lot. Certainly we do on Huntsman and their most famous emigre.

 

[Larry Dallas]

" i can easily say FU to those who think its vulgar "

I say this so often that now when people accuse me of being vulgar, it's because of my foul language and not the way I button my cuffs.

 

[George]

Originally Posted by Geezer

My objection to 5-button cuffs and contrast stitching, and my undecideness about peak lapels on an SB is precisely that they are currently fashionable, but not, in any meaningful sense, traditional.
DB lapels on a SB coat are not a new phenomenon, they've been around quite a while. As for the DB lapeled SB jacket being fashionable or 'fashion forward' that is a spurious argument at best.

 

[academe]

Originally Posted by Geezer

Yes, I am. I don't think this is a bad thing. Because both are factors. And I don't believe there are "rules" - only traditions, and certain basic aesthetic principles. At their worst, tradition is stultifying and fashion is fatuous. Traditions are important. So are trends, which exist even at the most conservative end of the spectrum. Back in the day, when every joker had decided wearing a stripey shirt was "it", I suddenly found myself buying plain colours. I have a drawer full of Jermyn Street ties with little animals and so on on them that were the dogs' when I bought them in 1995, but now seem dated. And so on. Like it or not, those are trends, or fashions. I define traditional as "would my very correctly-dressed father wear this?" and fashionable as "would David Beckham wear this?", not as "this was common before my father was born" and "dig it bro, it's the latest". My objection to 5-button cuffs and contrast stitching, and my undecideness about peak lapels on an SB is precisely that they are currently fashionable, but not, in any meaningful sense, traditional. To me, the OP's question boils down to what balance he should select between traditional (notch lapel, 4 cuff buttons, no funny colour stitching) and fashionable (all of those). My answer boils down to "err on the side of tradition - but not to the point of tedium". I suspect we actually agree with each other quite a lot. Certainly we do on Huntsman and their most famous emigre.
I think it is very difficult to make very firm "rules" about style when so much is dependent on fabric choice, cut, detailing (e.g. lapel width, flap size, buttoning point etc.) and the personality of the person commissioning the garment... That said, I have never really thought of peak lapels on a SB as being excessively fashiony - relative popularity may wax or wain with time... Perhaps it's more popular now, with Tom Ford & Co. Perhaps they were more popular when Anthony Eden was in office, too...

 

[Geezer]

OK, I think I'm going to leave this thread before we completely derail it (sorry, hoogie, not my intention at all).

However, as an ancient human being by SF standards, I will say that until 3-5 years ago, I could count on the fingers of one mutilated hand the number of times I remember seeing someone in London or the other major cities I have travelled to in a suit-wearing capacity wearing a peak lapel SB. One of them was me (in a long-discarded MTM suit from 1987 - it also had a DB shawl collar vest: maybe I should have kept it).

Now I see them a lot, in chain store windows and on (mostly) younger guys at work and around town. Yes, there are precedents, whether Anthony Eden or Jonathan Price's character in Terry Gilliam's Brazil. But that doesn't affect my basic proposition that this is a trend, which may or may not last.

 

[ALFAMALE]

I like the style, especially with wider lapels, but I'm afraid to commit as it seems to come in and out of fashion.

 

[RSS]

Originally Posted by George

Which button...?
The one nearest the cuff ... unless I'm feeling peculiarly precocious or painfully perverse.

 

[RSS]

Originally Posted by Geezer

Pleats are "out".
They're not out ... but the people who think they are out definietly are.

 

[pvrhye]

I feel like 5 would look good on a particularly tall dude.