As men’s wardrobes become more and more casual, the finer points of formal wear become more and more muddied until they disappear into the annals of sartorial history, only to be revived decades later in shows like Mad Men.  Once upon a time, fathers would pass these cherished rules down to their sons as part of their education.  There were rules on everything from how to dimple a tie to how to properly lace different types of dress shoes (yes, there is a right and wrong way for each).  One such point is what you might call “suit button etiquette.”  Nowadays, the average guy, buying his one and only black, fused, polyester suit at Men’s Wearhouse, might look at his three-button jacket and think, “There’s three buttons and three button holes, so why not button them all?”  If it were really that simple, this post would be pointless.  Obviously, you don’t button them all, but it’s not just for the sake of archaic rules.  There’s a rhyme and reason to it.  Let’s begin.

Why it matters -

 A man’s suit jacket is not outerwear.  It’s not a baggy sweatshirt or a puffy down vest.  If you look at a suit jacket closely, it’s a very complex garment with lots of seams, welts, vents, lining, interlining and buttons.  A well-made, well-fitting suit has a built-in drape.  It’s made to sit on your body in a very particular way and should taper evenly from your armpits to your waist.  When you button a suit, you should do it in such a way that it maintains the drape, which means the button that hits closest to your natural waist, regardless of how many buttons the suit has, should always be buttoned.

 ”So, why the extra buttons?” you might ask.  Well, like most men’s formal wear, suits are descendent from military uniforms and, as such, are rife with the vestiges of military tradition and utilitarian paraphernalia: buttons, pockets and miscellaneous doo-dads.  They also add variety and allow for different shapes of lapels to suit different body types. 

Single-breasted suits -

 A single breasted suit is one that has both sides of the jacket meeting vertically, in the middle of the wearers body, joined by a single row of buttons.  These come in two and three button and, less commonly, one and four button varieties.  There are also variations like three-roll-two suits, where the suit has three buttons and button holes but the lapel is “rolled” down to the middle button to appear like a two button.  Regardless of how many buttons, one rule applies to all of them:  The button that hits at the waist should always be buttoned when standing.  For one-button suits, the choice is easy.  Two-button suits should have the top button buttoned.  For three-buttons, it’s the middle button.  The top button can be buttoned for a more formal look but it’s generally not necessary.  Regarding four-plus-button suits, unless you’re a basketball player, stay away from them.  If you are tall enough to wear one well, I’d suggest buttoning the middle two, but since I’m at the low end of the height curve I can’t really comment.

Double-breasted suits -

  A double-breasted suit is one that has both sides of the jacket overlapping each other with a row of buttons on the inside and outside, with only half the outer buttons being functional.  If you’ve ever owned a pea coat, you know how this works.  The most typical double-breasted suit is the six-button with only two functional outer buttons (6x2), but they come in a variety as well.  The same rules apply in this case.  The button that hits the waist is always buttoned, those above are optional, those below are forbidden.  The main difference is that a double-breasted suit is never unbuttoned in public, regardless of whether you’re sitting, standing or playing a game of Twister.  By the way, the inside fastening button is traditionally referred to as a jigger.  I’d be careful with this term if you happen to have a lot of Jewish friends immersed in hip-hop culture.  

Zoot suits -

 …should be burned.  That is all.

Exceptions -

 As with all rules, there will be exceptions.  For example, not all single-breasted suits have a button that hits exactly at the waist.  Take a look at the picture below of JFK (sadly, on the day of his assassination).  You’ll notice both buttons on his two-button suit are buttoned.  He had a preference for two-button suits that had a button 2” above and 2” below the waist which he wore to conceal a back-brace he had to wear due to a war injury.  Notice that, due to the construction, both buttons could be buttoned without distorting the lines of the suit:

The Duke of Windsor is another example of a rebel in a double-breasted suit.  As shown in the photo below, he made it a habit to only button the bottom button on his 4x2 double breasted suits and often left the jigger undone.  The reason?  The Duke of Windsor stood at a commanding 5’3” tall.  By buttoning the bottom button only, he created a longer line and a deeper ‘V’ with the lapels that drew the eye up vertically and elongated his frame:

 The moral of the story is, it’s ok to break the rules if you know what you’re doing.  But until you become a head of state, stick with what works.