Telling the blazer, tuxedo, suit apart
ETIQUETTE FOR MEN<br><br>Sir Hardy Amies, founder of the most successful couture house in Britain, could not have put it better. <br>“A man should look as if he had bought his clothes with intelligence and put them on with careâ€.
ETIQUETTE FOR MEN
Timothy Bukhumunhe
Sir Hardy Amies, founder of the most successful couture house in Britain, could not have put it better.
“A man should look as if he had bought his clothes with intelligence and put them on with careâ€.
Buying the first suit or jacket that the hawker outside Amber House thrusts at you, is not good enough. You have to know what you are buying – a suit, jacket or blazer.
The suit
In the British-American tradition, there are only two silhouettes that have been cut into suit patterns. The American cut is a three-button, natural shoulder jacket, with a notched lapel and flap pockets.
The top button is not buttoned, but is actually on a part of the lapel which is rolled, so that the jacket fastens at the middle button only, as the bottom button is left open.
The top buttonhole is finished on both sides and is intended to be seen.
The British cut is a two-button, natural shoulder jacket, with a notched lapel, and flap pockets. The top button is buttoned, and the lower button is left unbuttoned.
The stance of the fastened button is to the waist, for a longer, more graceful look. There is also the double-breasted suit, and it is important to PLEASE NOTE that a double-breasted jacket is always buttoned!
Sport Jackets
Sport jackets have evolved today.
They come in more casual, and often more hardy, fabrics and patterns, with different pockets, and buttons, and stitched edge lapels instead of the bluff edge of the more tailored garment. Some jackets have patches at the elbows.
Of all the sport jackets, none is more widely worn than the blazer.
Today, the blazer remains navy blue with brass buttons, although variations can be had in black, tartan green or even red.
Dinner Jacket
The dinner jacket is the British name for the American tuxedo. Today’s shawl collar tuxedo is black, has satin facings, including a stripe of pure silk down the trouser leg, and a single button on the jacket, which is left unfastened, the better to show the cummerbund beneath.
Timothy Bukhumunhe
Sir Hardy Amies, founder of the most successful couture house in Britain, could not have put it better.
“A man should look as if he had bought his clothes with intelligence and put them on with careâ€.
Buying the first suit or jacket that the hawker outside Amber House thrusts at you, is not good enough. You have to know what you are buying – a suit, jacket or blazer.
The suit
In the British-American tradition, there are only two silhouettes that have been cut into suit patterns. The American cut is a three-button, natural shoulder jacket, with a notched lapel and flap pockets.
The top button is not buttoned, but is actually on a part of the lapel which is rolled, so that the jacket fastens at the middle button only, as the bottom button is left open.
The top buttonhole is finished on both sides and is intended to be seen.
The British cut is a two-button, natural shoulder jacket, with a notched lapel, and flap pockets. The top button is buttoned, and the lower button is left unbuttoned.
The stance of the fastened button is to the waist, for a longer, more graceful look. There is also the double-breasted suit, and it is important to PLEASE NOTE that a double-breasted jacket is always buttoned!
Sport Jackets
Sport jackets have evolved today.
They come in more casual, and often more hardy, fabrics and patterns, with different pockets, and buttons, and stitched edge lapels instead of the bluff edge of the more tailored garment. Some jackets have patches at the elbows.
Of all the sport jackets, none is more widely worn than the blazer.
Today, the blazer remains navy blue with brass buttons, although variations can be had in black, tartan green or even red.
Dinner Jacket
The dinner jacket is the British name for the American tuxedo. Today’s shawl collar tuxedo is black, has satin facings, including a stripe of pure silk down the trouser leg, and a single button on the jacket, which is left unfastened, the better to show the cummerbund beneath.