The one-button look

[Frederic Leighton]

I've always found one-button suits somehow sloppy, with one exception - the combination of one-button dinner suit and evening shirt. I can't tell you exactly why, but I guess it has to do with that sort of 'provisional' fastening and too much of soft-fronted shirt exposed.

I recently spent some time trying to collect evidences of one-button suits (suits with one-button coat, as opposed to one-button sport jackets) in early 20th c. fashion plates and found wonderful examples that changed my mind.

What's your opinion on one-button suits? do you like them? do you wear them? when do you wear them?

[rogiercreemers]

I very much appreciate the one-button look, but will agree that it looks better with a vest, and certainly requires trousers with a proper rise.

[old henry]

I have a customer who orders only one button peak lapels. The quarters are not open and the pant is high waisted. Nothing is worse than seeing shirt. Very cheezy. Closed quarters, but mostly high waisted pant , as rogiercreemers says,is the key. The quarters should just about touch without being buttoned. Balance is key also.

[rodes]

Although I have never had one, and perhaps never will, I do like them. To my eye the one button coat gives a very clean, elegant line especially favoring a man of less than average height. My guess is that the coat will one day be iconic for this very reason.

[old henry]

Rodes, the one button is good for anyone of any stature.. Just like a DB. My customer is 6'4" 250lbs. He carries it very well. The suit in works for him now is a ..one button, peak lapel with pleated patch pkts made from RAF LL Linen. I like your first sentence about most likely never owning one but appreciating them. This is a good way to think.

[NJS]

Here's a nice one - with plenty of vest:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q ... B387%3B450

[MRJ]

I really like the 1 button, partly because they are very uncommon RTW. I believe they are much harder to cut and balance than other cuts, although the tailors are better qualified than me to comment on this. I am a customer of Richard Anderson, however, and it is his house style dating back to his Huntsman days. I like the way you get a long collar line and are able to show lots of tie. However my preference is always to have contrast in outfits and so 1 button is able to show more tie contrast than other cuts.

[marburyvmadison]

I think a one button coat tends to help visually lengthen a shorter man's torso, instead of truncating him into sections the way a three button does. I found that to be my experience since I'm 5'3. Thus I wear them almost exclusively and not because it's uncommon.

This below is Patrick Murphy, head cutter at Huntsman

[hectorm]

What's your opinion on one-button suits? do you like them? do you wear them? when do you wear them?

One-button suits, when well cut and balanced, make for a dashing figure. All of my suits commissioned at Huntsman while living in London during the first half of the nineties (I still have them all) are cut that way. That style hadn´t been my first choice before setting foot in their shop (I also used to think that it was not flattering for a very tall man) but they convinced me of the contrary. Notwithstanding I have always felt a bit more self-conscious wearing the one-buttons than wearing other styles; I don´t know, something tells me that I´m being a bit flashy. Since those are amongst my best cut suits I wear them for special occasions (one of them is my barathea dinner suit). More recently, I had one-button jackets made but they didn´t work as well. It was not the style itself to be to blame but the tailor´s hand (and at 4600 pounds a pop, Huntsman´s touch is beyond my budget nowadays).
On the other points, I agree with the rest of the LL bunch: the one-buttons look better with high waisted trousers and -especially good- with a vest or contrasting tie.

[Frederic Leighton]

Thank you everybody for sharing your opinion and experience! ..please, don't stop now

I already mentioned that some old fashion plates made me change my mind. I actually remember seeing a very plain one-button, off-white, corduroy suit by Tommy Nutter on ebay few months ago - that was the first time I seriously considered a one button suit, even though a 1930's three-piece dinner suit is still the only one in my wardrobe.

Below some short notes on 1910's-1920's fashion plates, which show a very 'free' and not yet standardized approach to the design of the garment in question.

#1. Three-piece suit, worsted wool, black with black striped pattern, 1910's, high buttoning, notched lapel, patch pockets with one button closure, worn with black bow-tie, high waistcoat.

#2. Two-piece suit, worsted wool, off-white or light tan, Spring-Summer 1912, very low buttoning, notched lapel, 3 patch pockets with flaps, worn on a beach (the coat unbuttoned) with a bow-tie, low rise trousers with belt.

#3. Two-piece suit, worsted wool, brown with striped pattern of the same colour, 1915, chain-linked button style, peaked lapel, 45-degree angled pockets, worn with a bow-tie.

#4. Three-piece suit (sketch), 1920, very high buttoning, large peaked lapel, 60-degree angled pockets, very high waistcoat, worn with tie.

#5. Smoking jacket worn with trousers and waistcoat of matching colour, 1921, brown (?), high buttoning, chain-linked button style, peaked lapel, no neck-wear, evening waistcoat.