Single vent with button

[Kent Wang]

I have this Harris Tweed sportcoat that has a button on the single vent. It can be buttoned, I suppose, to decrease the functional length of the vent. Has anyone ever seen this feature before? How useful is it? I really can't imagine using it. I'm thinking about cutting off the button as sometimes it peeps out when I'm walking"”not all the time; this photo is taken to purposefully show the button. But its unique quirkiness gives me pause.

 

[radicaldog]

It's an outerwear feature, a bit like the buttons on the vents of some Barbour jackets, or like the buttons on some tweet coat cuffs that allow you to narrow the cuff: it helps keeping the elements at bay. I'd keep it, though I'd rarely use it.

 

[NOBD]

I have it on an overcoat. But the button comes undone (?) when I wear it, so I don't bother to use it.

 

[RSS]

I have seen this feature before. In Austin, I doubt you'd have reason to use it.

 

[emptym]

I think the one time it'd be helpful is when if you're standing stationary for a while in a windy area.

 

[Manton]

I've seen it but only on overcoats and raincoats.

 

[Montauk]

I have a Polo sportcoat with this feature, although rather than an buttonhole there's actually a separate button tab. I'm not a huge fan, but as it's a bi-swing half-Norfolk I figure no one's going to notice an extra eccentricity.

 

[Kent Wang]

Now that I have been assured by this thread that there is no secret function that I was not aware of, I have decided to cut off the button, as I don't like the way it peeps out sometimes.

It also seems quite awkward to button when you're wearing the coat; do you only do it before putting it on?

 

[RSS]

Originally Posted by Kent Wang

[D]o you only do it before putting it on?
That would be my preference. Otherwise the action appears a tad gauche.

I'm reminded of a Gilda Radner sketch about having seen Gloria Vanderbilt attempting to relieve an itch.