Men's suit, pants question -- cuffs or no cuffs?

Cuffs - yes.
Three-button suits - no.
Double-breasted - no.

 

Just an opinion from a woman who thinks men in good suits are insanely sexy, as long as they know how to tie a tie, which is another thread altogether:

Three button = confident and sharp, without being flashy or ostentatious.

Cuffs are a must. No cuffs means you thought about it and made the wrong decision. Unless you are hosting American Idol or selling $600 sunglasses at Barneys.

And while we're here---learn how to tie a tie properly. People notice.

 

I wouldn't know what button to button. With the two-button it's easy -- just the top one.

 

The top 2 buttons is correct. Some will button just the middle. I would be like that with a 4 / 5 / 6 button suit - I would not know where to begin.

 

There are two basic types of three-button suits. There is a three-button on which the top button is rendered unusable and basically invisible by the lapel roll -- it's called a sack suit, and it's a classic, but harder to find except at certain specialty shops that specialize in traditional styles. Then there are the modern models in which the top button is a working button, clearly visible. They are two entirely different species. My blazer is a classic Brooks Brothers sack -- three buttons, rolled to two. You would look very strange if you tried to button the top button -- it is not meant to be used. It looks like this -- up close you can see a button hole, but as you can see, you would have to strain to use it:

http://www.jpressonline.com/blazers_presstige_detail.php?ix=0

 

Frank's example is a style that's been around since Christ was a cowboy.

Will never go out of fashion.


There's a store here in Toronto--Stollery's--that specializes in those. That's where I bought my Brooks Brother's summer suit.

And 21 is right. Not only should you learn to tie a tie properly, make sure you have the right knot for the shirt collar.

 

I'm OK with that type of (toip button under the lapel) three-button, just not the more modern one. I'm not cool enough to get away with it.

How does everyone feel about square-toed shoes? Not a fan myself, although I don't like the really pointy toes either.

I'm generally wary when styles go too far in any direction -- really wide ties or lapels, for example, or those "flying nun" collars from the '70s that I suppose you needed because the goddam ties were so wide.

 

Thomas Pink shirts.

 

Michael Irvin always does a good job matching his knot to collar.

 

I took stock as well ... Four suits, all four of which are cuffed/pleated in the trousers. No double-breasted jackets (big gentlemen like myself look like balloons in the doubles, a tailor once told me).

Of the approx. 20 pair of "non-Dockers" trousers I have, about half are cuffed and half aren't. That ratio about matches the Dockers-style trousers as well. When I play golf in trousers (which is as often as possible, even in the late-spring warmth ... gotta look sharp), I tend to wear uncuffed trousers -- to keep from bringing home entire divots around my ankles.

rb

 

As for the shirts (as you were breathlessly wondering), I run the gamut -- French-cuffed to linen, oxford to Egyptian cotton, and in a wide array of colors. In fact, colored shirts (anywhere from the yellow linen today to the lime-green cuffed number) outweigh the white ones 10-to-1 in my closet. And exactly NO short-sleeved "dress" shirts ... Hawaiian shirts, however, are another story ...

rb