Working sleeve buttons on Zara suit

[SJX]

Hi,

I was browsing through Zara and noticed their suits on sale for $250. What surprised me were the working buttonholes. At least three buttons on the left sleeve could unbutton, didn't manage to try the rest as I had to dash off. The jacket was made in China, but seemed to be a decent quality wool and was probably fused.

Regards,

JiaXian
Singapore

 

[johnnynorman3]

A lot of lower end companies are doing working button holes now -- so, while it's a nice touch, it's not that big of a deal. Certainly not a reason to buy a suit that you don't otherwise think is high quality.

 

[AlanC]

Working button holes on RTW can also throw a wrench into the works when you have the sleeves shortened.

 

[Get Smart]

i went into a Zara store this past thanksgiving weekend after seeing TONS of people walking around with their bags and i was surprised they have some decent stuff. a great place for someone who is looking for a "starter suit" as you can get a sharp suit in decent fabrics/cut for a low cost. at the time i was looking (with no luck) for a pair of slimfitting Prince of Wales check flat front trousers and they had the exact pair at Zara that, once hemmed, had the perfect 7.5" bottom i usually tailor my trousers to.

 

[BlvdDandy]

I knew working button holes were no longer special when J. Crew started adding them to all their jackets.

 

[Phil]

there is a tremendous difference in machine made working button holes and hand stitched working button holes. There is a special machine that can make them for next to nothing. In essense its no different than making the buttons on the front of the coat. All you need is that machine. Im actually surprised some lower end companies havent picked up on this design feature sooner. The hand-stitched variety are a whole different animal. I had the pleasure of meeting the 4 people at Saks who hand stitch all the buttonholes. They are all in their 60s, all Italian, and watching them in action was amazing.

 

[retronotmetro]

I can't see working sleeve buttons becoming a universal feature on RTW suits because they render sleeve length alterations basically impossible at the "quick and cheap" level you get at a department store. The alterations guy at Macy's isn't going to alter the sleeve at the shoulder, and even if he could/would, nobody in that market would pay for it.

Then again, this assumes that anything more than a tiny percentage of the market actually cares about sleeve length.