Custom vs. Off-The-Rack: Functional Buttonholes

This will be the first of many future posts to render a look at the differences between men's custom clothing and off-the-rack clothing.  Today we're going to take a look at functional buttonholes.  I always like to get the formalities out of the way first.  So what I am waxing on about are the buttons on the sleeve of a men's suit or sport/odd jacket.

With custom clothing, after you've gotten all the measurements perfected, then comes the design stage...the fun part.  There are many questions that need answering and many choices to be made.  Some men want to take advantage of the many choices while some men just want a basic suit that really fits.  When the suit jacket comes up, I invariably ask the question about functional buttonholes.  And then I get the puzzled look that says, "ok, that looks cool, but why?"  The answer is just that, because it looks cool!  Then I get the question, "How does the world know that I have functional buttonholes?"  The usual practice is to wear the button closest to your hand undone.  Eventually, someone will take notice.  And then sometimes the question comes up, "Why doesn't every jacket have functional buttons?" 

Well here's why and the real difference between custom and off-the-rack.  When you buy off-the-rack suits, they are made to fit about 50,000 different men in that particular size jacket and arm length.  With off-the-rack suits, the buttons are simply sewn in place so that when a jacket sleeve is lengthened or shortened, the buttons can be removed and then replaced in the appropriate setting based on the new length.  With custom, the suit is made with a gentlemen's arm length already perfected and thereby placing functional buttonholes does not create a problem...unless of course the gentleman is 14 years old and hasn't stop growing yet!

In today's life, there is no other reason to install functional buttonholes but to look cool - to hint that your suit is custom made, that you've taken a little extra time to make sure your garment isn't like any other and that you care a little more about your appearance than others.  I tell lot's of people that ask, when buying custom clothing, there has to be some "want" that goes along with the "need".  The guys that have a little more "want" than "need" are usually the guys that jump at the chance for functional buttonholes. 

Now let's take a look at why there is such an option to begin with.  Long ago, back when a gentleman would never show his shirtsleeves in public or especially in view of a woman, such gentlemen would find themselves in situations that might require one to get one's hands soiled or dirty.  Think of a professional such as a field surgeon or a newspaper printer.  These gentlemen could simply roll up their jacket sleeves when things got messy, thereby preserving the cleanliness of their sleeves when they left the shop or the field and headed to dinner.

Today there aren't too many field surgeons running around in fine suits, but there are many men who take the extra effort to present themselves at a higher level.  Functional buttonholes are a very easy and inexpensive method to make the upgrade.  So the next time you're getting fitted for a custom suit, if your salesman or tailor doesn't ask about functional buttonholes, tell him you've decided to become a field surgeon and this will now be a requirement with all your future garments.  And don't forget to leave the bottom button undone!