Double Breasted
Recently on a different topic several of our best contributors all had harsh things to say about double breasted suits being out of style. As I remember those comments, which I could not find minutes ago, the comments were all written by ladies with keen eyes. One opined that she would not wear a double breasted jacket.
Everyone is entitled to an opinion. When I was growing up in NYC prior to WWII, hardly any men working in professional careers wore single breasted suits. Even more casual blazers were double breasted. I was quite slender then and felt all the extra cloth was un-necessary. The only jacket I owned that was single breased was my tiny tail-coat!
To conserve cloth, during WWII the fashion became single breasted suits. I am not sure that was ever an actual law, but by the time the war was over all the men my age and somewhat older much preferred single breasted jackets. In a formal setting, such as an office and especially in court men who expected to be taken seriously always wore three-piece suits with a matching vest. Even in the heat of Southern California that was the norm. I visited many NYC ad agencies during the early 1960's and hardly was out of place in my tailored three piece single breasted suits. Of course in those days I was still slender and athletic.
Over the years I aged and moved up in rank. With my increased maturity it was as if the dry cleaners kept shrinking my jackets.
By the late 1990's I took the advice of my long-time tailor who not so gently suggested that since I was no long slender or young, I would look better without a vest, which does add bulk. Suddenly I back to using braces to hold my trousers in place, far higher than when I still wore belts. All my suits were cut double breasted.
These days I notice the younger better looking and slender men prefer single breasted suits. I also spend more time in law offices and courts than years ago. Associate attorneys and junior prosecutors tend to wear single breasted suits without vests. Male partners and senior prosecutors almost always wear double breasted suits, even the slender ones. Female partners and prosecutors tend to wear single breasted jackets.
When selecting a suit it must be appropriate for the occasion and your body type. Despite fashion form and perfect fit is vital.
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Neat topic, Dr. A...
I've always preferred a three-piece suit on a man.
It just looks more "finished" somehow.
Roger wears three-piecers, I've noticed, or double-breasted suits.
My husband wore a three-piece single-breasted suit on our first date back in July 1969...wow...made an impression on me, I will say. He wears single-breasted suits now with no vests ("too hot") so he has decided that he no longer needs the extra layer...although he is still relatively slender at 60.
I asked him about this topic and he said the man who sold him that three-piecer all those years ago told him "women like the vest"....he was right, I guess! ha
Hi Dr. A, Your topic brings up some nice memories for me. I remember double breasted suits very well, not only from watching "old" movies but because my father had one he wore when he dressed up. He also had a great, heavy, navy blue wool double breasted long coat for wintertime. We lived in Cleveland, Ohio where the bitter chilly winds do blow. He told me that his father, who was a tailor, had made it for him. My dad always looked special when he wore that suit and coat.
One of my dear possessions is a photograph of my father and one of his brothers taken sometime in the twenties. They are both wearing double breasted suits and looking quite handsome.
By the way, I think a man wearing suspenders is sexy.
The origin of your comment was mine, Dr, A. What I mentioned was that while watching the fashion commentary on Oscar night, it was mentioned how out of style the double-breasted jacket was. The actor that was the catalyst for the comment was Mickey Rourke, who had dressed in a white double-breasted tuxedo for the Oscar event.
After watching the beautiful clothing worn by the slim Fred Astaire in "You Were Never Lovelier," I noticed how wonderful he looked. During the movie he wore a white double-breasted tuxedo jacket with black tuxedo slacks. He had a black silk square in the pocket and a white boutonniere. I thought he looked particularly dashing, as did many of the men in the film who were wearing double breasted suits.
About 2 years ago, in selecting that "one great black suit" as a wardrobe staple, my choice included a skirt, slacks, and double-breasted jacket ensemble of wool gabardine that I expected to wear for many years. In my post, I relayed my diappointment in hearing that this suit, which was a considerable inve$tment, was now out of style...not that I wouldn't wear it again---and I didn't mean to imply that I agreed with the stylists opinion.
The next time I wear mine my plan is to make sure the buttons do not pull over my expanding midsection thereby distracting from the silhouette. lol (In my opinion, a far greater sin would be to wear the jacket hanging open.) The company I purchased it from offers single-breasted jackets in the same cloth, so I could just eliminate the issue by having both.
My childhood was filled with well-dressed men. My dad let me watch him care for his clothing, and taught me how care for shoes and iron his white shirts. To this day I still boil Argo Starch and keep my own white blouses perfectly starched (no cat-tails...no sleeve creases). It is one of the secrets I keep from the men I date...the other is how good I am at trimming mustaches! lol
What I have noticed in watching all these classic films is how much more I gravitate toward the clothing of the 40s and 50s. By the time the fashion of the 60s came around, things were rapidly changing....even our own Peggy was being urged to change her appearance. The beauty standard and ideal silhouette was changing both for men and women....and it continues to change as decades pass. What goes around....All we have to do is live long enough....smile
rozsie, I have a similar pic of my dad and his two brothers and 3 cousins all in their teens and twenties standing in a row so straight and tall---you can tell by the expressions on their faces they were proud of their spiffy appearance---hats on and everything, with their double-breasted suits. Don't you love looking at your dad when he was so young and vital and you weren't even a glint in his eye yet?