Working button cuffs

[Trey]

Fellow Loungers:

Please opine regarding whether to leave all buttons on a jacket with working button cuffs buttoned or whether to unbotton a bottom button.

Trey

[Concordia]

If you're not actually rolling up your sleeves on a tropical beach, leave everything buttoned.

[palmer]

I second Concorida. Like other details of bespoke that can be replicated with relative ease on non-bespoke garments, working buttonholes on the cuffs are being copied onto all manner of jackets -- and left open by wearers interested in making others think that they are wearing bespoke when they are not. The beauty of real bespoke will show through with the working cuff buttons worn closed.

[angelo]

Trey,
leaving buttoned or unbuttoned the last sleeve cuff button is a very old question.
Against the unbuttoning is the opinion that this habit is not elegant as it wants to tell to observers that our suit or jacket are bespoke ones ; pro are the aesthetic elegance and the beauty of a perfect handsewn naked buttonhole. To everyone sensitiveness the personal choice between the two options.

[Cufflink79]

To qoute Manton's book "The Suit", "only the vulgar leave their button holes undone."

Well I guess you can call me a little bit vulgar, since I leave one of my four cuff buttons undone on each sleeve.

Best Regards,

Cufflink79

[JMurphy]

Oh my God by all means make sure you button them all at all times no matter what. Also, button all three buttons on your suit coat and button the bottom button of your vest and button the top button of your shirts when you're not wearing a tie. One wouldn't want to be thought 'gauche' by another one with too much time on his hands.

(Have a little fun. It's not called sprezzatura for nothing.)

[Costi]

I regard the undone cuff button as a matter of context: in the context of elegant dress (as defined throughout the LL) it would be a distracting affectation that would spoil the overall effect from which elegance derives, thus defeating its purpose – somewhat like holding one’s little finger up while sipping from a cup of tea; in the context of fashion or “designer” dress, the unbuttoned cuffs may work together with the creative cut, mix of fabrics, accessories etc. to convey the intended impression of originality – an altogether different paradigm, a sartorial meme. However, if while picnicking one needs to roll up one’s jacket and shirt sleeve in order to retrieve a bottle of white wine previously laid on the bottom of the cool shallow creek flowing nearby, the working sleeve buttonholes may prove useful, undoing the buttons – senseful and forgetting to button up afterwards – explicable. On account of the wine, that is!

[dopey]

If you go through the trouble of asking yourself why you would want to do this you will have answered, one way or another, your own question.

[HappyStroller]

And, Sir, may I recommend Pomeral Chateau wines such as Chateau Petrvs, Le Pin or Chateau LaFleur.

Perhaps functional cuff buttons gives the wearer a reassuring feeling similar to a watch owner knowing his watch is a genuine Piaget, Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, etc., with case and bracelet made from genuine solid 18K gold.

I regard the undone cuff button as a matter of context: in the context of elegant dress (as defined throughout the LL) it would be a distracting affectation that would spoil the overall effect from which elegance derives, thus defeating its purpose – somewhat like holding one’s little finger up while sipping from a cup of tea; in the context of fashion or “designer” dress, the unbuttoned cuffs may work together with the creative cut, mix of fabrics, accessories etc. to convey the intended impression of originality – an altogether different paradigm, a sartorial meme. However, if while picnicking one needs to roll up one’s jacket and shirt sleeve in order to retrieve a bottle of white wine previously laid on the bottom of the cool shallow creek flowing nearby, the working sleeve buttonholes may prove useful, undoing the buttons – senseful and forgetting to button up afterwards – explicable. On account of the wine, that is!

[Costi]

Perhaps functional cuff buttons gives the wearer a reassuring feeling similar to a watch owner knowing his watch is a genuine Piaget, Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, etc., with case and bracelet made from genuine solid 18K gold]

I do like functional cuff buttonholes (and do require them on many coats) because I think they look better than the "blind" or fake ones as the individual knots arrange themselves better around the edges of the cut buttonhole. As for reassurance, if only I could find it in gold, perhpas I would own more of it than the nib of my fountain pen (where I prefer the flexibility of 14K gold).

[Daedalus]

Oh my God by all means make sure you button them all at all times no matter what. Also, button all three buttons on your suit coat and button the bottom button of your vest and button the top button of your shirts when you're not wearing a tie. One wouldn't want to be thought 'gauche' by another one with too much time on his hands.

(Have a little fun. It's not called sprezzatura for nothing.)

A little joke of stijlforum.nl member gusto napolitano, after a similar discussion.

I SAW THE LIGHT ''ALL BUTTONS CLOSED'' Spread the Word.

[JMurphy]

That's funny, D. Thanks for posting that. I happen to like leaving one or two cuff buttons open. What the hell---live a little.

[HappyStroller]

How about formal clothing?

Should frock coats, morning tail coats, evening tail coats and dinner jackets have functional sleeve buttons, and, if so, should their numbers be different?

[angelo]

Happy Stroller wrote:
How about formal clothing?

Should frock coats, morning tail coats, evening tail coats and dinner jackets have functional sleeve buttons, and, if so, should their numbers be different?

I think that, like any other beskope coat, formal coats should have working sleeve button cuffs in number of four ,that is the classical number for town suits.

[Luca]

I personally find undone suit buttons insufferably showy. It’s like wearing a large Rolex gold watch or very loud suit lining. Best left to Las Vegas lounge lizards and rappers (other than P Diddy, natch.).