The gentleman of the 1840s

[Gruto]

A nice quote from a Richard Sennett essay on the "miniaturization" of men's dress from 1840s and onward:

"... one could always recognize gentlemanly dress because the sleeves of a gentleman's coat actually buttoned and unbutoned, while one recognized gentlemanly behavior in his keeping the buttons scrupulously fastened, so that his sleeves never called attention to this fact."

I know this example is a very poor example today - you'll find many RTW sleeves that unbuton, but I think it works as a nice definition of the gentleman and his dress.