3 button vs. 2 button

[funneman]

I'm looking at new 2 and 3 button suits and wondering if either one of them
is more retro in appearance than the other.

Was one more common than the other during the Golden Era?

Anyone?

 

[avedwards]

I think, though I'm not sure, that both were common. If you were wearing a waistcoat/vest you would wear a two button suit, if you weren't a three button or double-breasted suit, as these go up to where a waist coat would finish.

 

[Matt Deckard]

The real eye catcher that gives away a jacket is the cut of the lapel and the stance of the buttons. I can't say that a two or three is more retro, in a pinch I'd go by the lapels.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I don't know that either was more popular in the US. (I assume you mean SB suits) Though i will say i've probably seen more 2-button than 3-button from the 1930s. The 2-button SB notch American mid-1930s jacket is without a doubt my favourite of all vintage jackets.

In the UK, i'm pretty confident in saying that 3 button SB suits were more popular than 2-button.

As Matt says, it's more about proportion. The position of the fastening button is critical for the "golden era" look.

bk

 

[Feraud]

It seems the wisdom has already been dispensed.

The only additional comment I can make is I've seen SB (notched) three button suits referred to in catalogs as "Conservative". The comment seems to refer to a man's age and not his politcal leaning.
I am not sure how accurate this is but it was something that caught my attention.

 

[MisterGrey]

I think that prior to WWII three-button jackets were more common in Europe, whereas two-buttons were the American standard. In all of my family's old photos, the men are wearing 2+ button suits; my great-grandfather, who was married in 1914, is wearing a four-button tuxedo jacket in his wedding portrait. Their clothes were all brought over from the Old Country (Eastern Poland and Western Russia) and once in America they were never really influenced by US styles. If I'm right about this, it would make sense that the 1950s saw a rise in the prominence of three-button jackets as soldiers came home from the European front and asked that the style be duplicated. But this is all just speculation on my part.

 

[vitanola]

It seems the wisdom has already been dispensed.

The only additional comment I can make is I've seen SB (notched) three button suits referred to in catalogs as "Conservative". The comment seems to refer to a man's age and not his politcal leaning.
I am not sure how accurate this is but it was something that caught my attention.

Remember that in the years before the Great War three button, or even four button coats were de-regur. In the 1920's and 1930's, three button suits were offered for the older gentleman, hence the appellation "conservative".

The men who were purchasing the three-button offerings in the 1930'a were probably also wearing the old style high shoes, unless they were surviving GAR vets, in which case they were wearing Congress Gaiters.

Note, too, that in the years before the War, single button coats were also offered for the portly man. The lapel stance on these suits was similar to that of a three-button sacque, but only the top button was fitted, allowing the coat to open in gently over the man's, er, "presence".

It sounds awful, doesn't it? Even so, this solution to the problem of the adipose man actually was quite flattering. It probably would not be as flattering today, for the drape of the light suitings that are now ubiquitous would tend to emphasize what the old heavy-weight worsteds were so adept at concealing.

 

[Lensmaster]

A few years ago when three button suits were becoming popular I thought it was a modern thing. Until I recently started studying up on the golden era (reading The Fedora Lounge) and discovered it is as traditional as two button. Anyway this is only my unscientific observation, but I've started noticing a lot of three button SB suits in old movies.

 

[Widebrim]

I think that prior to WWII three-button jackets were more common in Europe, whereas two-buttons were the American standard. In all of my family's old photos, the men are wearing 2+ button suits; my great-grandfather, who was married in 1914, is wearing a four-button tuxedo jacket in his wedding portrait. Their clothes were all brought over from the Old Country (Eastern Poland and Western Russia) and once in America they were never really influenced by US styles. If I'm right about this, it would make sense that the 1950s saw a rise in the prominence of three-button jackets as soldiers came home from the European front and asked that the style be duplicated. But this is all just speculation on my part.

Which style do you mean? The Class A Army jacket had (and still has) four buttons. Still, you might be right.

 

[funneman]

Thanks Gents!

This has all been very enlightening, as I suspected it would be.

 

[Geesie]

I have noticed that in a lot of the old movies, there are plenty of three-button suits but are often buttoned only on the center button.

 

[MisterGrey]

Which style do you mean? The Class A Army jacket had (and still has) four buttons. Still, you might be right.

I think that 3+ button jackets were more of a European phenomenon during the 20s-40s and that they re-entered American fashion (for the young/middle aged) following WWII. Great-granddad, who was married in Russia in 1914 in his mid-twenties and came to America shortly thereafter, is pictured in his wedding photograph with a four-button tux jacket, and throughout his life in America, favored three-button jackets.

 

[Feraud]

Remember that in the years before the Great War three button, or even four button coats were de-regur. In the 1920's and 1930's, three button suits were offered for the older gentleman, hence the appellation "conservative".

Now that you mention it, it makes perfect sense to advertiser an older style that way.

 

[JimInSoCalif]

I have noticed that in a lot of the old movies, there are plenty of three-button suits but are often buttoned only on the center button.

I started wearing suits in the 1950's and all I have ever owned were three button suits and sport coats. In the 50s and 60s the custom with everyone I knew including the owners and sales people in men's clothing stores was to button the top two buttons.

However, I can't remember the last time I saw one buttoned that way. Somewhere along the line, I think maybe in the 70s three button rolled to two became the norm. I am not sure why, nor exactly when this took place.

 

[MisterGrey]

I started wearing suits in the 1950's and all I have ever owned were three button suits and sport coats. In the 50s and 60s the custom with everyone I knew including the owners and sales people in men's clothing stores was to button the top two buttons.

However, I can't remember the last time I saw one buttoned that way. Somewhere along the line, I think maybe in the 70s three button rolled to two became the norm. I am not sure why, nor exactly when this took place.

Probably a reflection of the casual mentality that took over fashion in the 70s and carried over into the 80s. Think of the Leisure Suit and, during the Reagan Era, the rise of the looser, modernized "Double Breasted Power Jacket" which were considerably more loose and roomy than the more conservative, classic double breasted suits. Less buttons = More of the torso showing/open = More mobility = Less conservative, "looser" mentality.

 

[JimInSoCalif]

I would prefer not to think of the Leisure Suit.

 

[Mike K.]

The position of the fastening button is critical for the "golden era" look.

Can someone please define the "Golden Era" position of the fastening button vs. that of a modern suit? Is it simply a matter of where it falls in relation to the waist, thus higher on vintage jackets as a result of higher-waisted pants?

 

[MisterGrey]

Something else that's occurred to me is that two buttons probably served a purpose in the 1930s in that they required less material to make, by virtue of the more "open" chest region. Less material = Lower Cost to make and buy. A boon for men in an era of abject poverty and precarious financial status.

 

[Tzedekh]

Something else that's occurred to me is that two buttons probably served a purpose in the 1930s in that they required less material to make, by virtue of the more "open" chest region. Less material = Lower Cost to make and buy. A boon for men in an era of abject poverty and precarious financial status.

Then why were suits so commonly vested? I would think eliminating the vest would reduce cost more.

 

[suitedcboy]

I have yet another slant on this: marketing.
I don't believe marketing and fashion change are inventions of the 20th century. There are certainly historical reasons for certain types of suits but the periodic drift of 3 button to two button and narrow ties and lapels to wide ties and lapels certainly feeds the want of new suits, shirts, ties.
There have been men of renown known to be sharp dressers who adopted a suit style and stayed with it with few changes during the fashion drifts.