ConservativEccentric
Active Member
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2023
- Messages
- 34
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- 10
I often wear a three-piece suit or a two-piece suit with a sweater vest, but I recently came across the claim that a suit is not meant to be buttoned when wearing a vest. Is this a modern convention, one followed in America rather than the UK, or have I just been ignorantly wearing my suits wrong all this time? And does this differ depending on whether the vest is odd, matching, or a sweater?
I have additionally become confused lately by differing opinions on whether the bottom button of one's waistcoat is to be left undone or not, and if this varies whether one is or is not wearing their jacket?
And what about the last button on topcoats, overcoats, and frock coats?
And a final question: While someone wearing a modern suit with the last button fastened looks like a rube, what about a vintage jacket, or a jacket based on a vintage pattern, from before Edward VII's obesity first made it a thing? I would assume, unlike a modern jacket, that a jacket from before this time should be fully buttoned and would drape incorrectly otherwise? Does anyone know the date when the convention of leaving the last button undone was widely adopted by tailors, changing the placement of the button holes?
I have additionally become confused lately by differing opinions on whether the bottom button of one's waistcoat is to be left undone or not, and if this varies whether one is or is not wearing their jacket?
And what about the last button on topcoats, overcoats, and frock coats?
And a final question: While someone wearing a modern suit with the last button fastened looks like a rube, what about a vintage jacket, or a jacket based on a vintage pattern, from before Edward VII's obesity first made it a thing? I would assume, unlike a modern jacket, that a jacket from before this time should be fully buttoned and would drape incorrectly otherwise? Does anyone know the date when the convention of leaving the last button undone was widely adopted by tailors, changing the placement of the button holes?
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