Why can't men decide whether to leave their stupid jacket open or closed?

[Rhea]

Or get jackets that fit while sitting down? Or just wear them open if that's what's comfortable?

They look so stupid, every single one of them, standing up in their unbuttoned suitcoats, and immediately reaching down to button them.

They do this at various ceremonies where they stand up to be acknowledged and every one of them does it on cure. It's be like women standing up and adjusting their pantyhose. It looks stupid and they just need to get clothes that fit.


Like these two guys. AT THE MOMENT all the cameras are on you, you need to adjust your clothes?



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They could have some elastic tether that closes it up as you stand if it's so important to have it close up as you stand.

 

[laughing dog]

As a man and as a bit of a slob, when I wear a suit jacket or sport coat, I live it unbuttoned unless I get cold.

I suspect
1)these suits are tailored that the jacket is uncomfortable when buttoned and in a sitting position, and
2) the general view is that unbuttoned jackets look more sloppy and are more noticeable unbuttoned when standing.


But Rhea, doesn't it give you some relief to know that there a few fashion problems that plague men?

 

[Rhea]

But Rhea, doesn't it give you some relief to know that there a few fashion problems that plague men?

Only if it translates into wholesale correction of fashion plagues!

I'm going to start unzipping my dress when I sit down. That'll fix 'em.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

A closed jacket means that you're serious and ready to do business and discuss the serious matters which are the purview of world leaders. An open jacket means that you're relaxed and can discuss personal matters like whether or not the wife-swapping deal that the elder Trudeau had with Reagan is still a thing.

 

[Godless Raven]

Rhea, if the suit does fit properly, it's more comfortable to sit with it unbuttoned. If the suit is frumpy and too large, you can sit or stand and it makes no difference (because you'll look like a slob doing both). I've always worn suits that were a little too big, to my wife's chagrin. But in the past 7 and a half months I've lost almost 85lbs and my suits looked WAY too big. But I could have sat, lied down, did jumping jacks in them without buttoning them. Instead, she talked some sense in to me and I bought new suits that are form fitting. They look way better, they fit way better...but I gotta do the button and unbutton if I intend on leaning fwd when someone is speaking to me (especially something private as Politicians often do). Also...now I find I kind of like doing it.

I had no idea anyone would find it that deplorable. I can tell you this much...now that I've read your OP, I'll probably think about this every time I go to button/unbutton

What I find annoying is when there are 3 buttons and the person wearing it doesn't know which is to be buttoned and which should never be.

 

[Valjean]

Maybe we should go back to double breasted coats, which only look right when buttoned.

 

[Rhea]

Rhea, if the suit does fit properly, it's more comfortable to sit with it unbuttoned. [...] Instead, she talked some sense in to me and I bought new suits that are form fitting. They look way better, they fit way better...but I gotta do the button and unbutton if I intend on leaning fwd when someone is speaking to me (especially something private as Politicians often do). Also...now I find I kind of like doing it.

It's true - I have some jeans that I look great in when I'm standing up but have to unbutton to sit comfortably. But everyone in the meeting always looks at me funny when I stand and button. Not sure why.

I had no idea anyone would find it that deplorable. I can tell you this much...now that I've read your OP, I'll probably think about this every time I go to button/unbutton

Oh no! Sorry about that.

What I find annoying is when there are 3 buttons and the person wearing it doesn't know which is to be buttoned and which should never be.

I would find it annoying to have a button that wasn't supposed to be. Like those stupid fake pockets on fancy slacks.

 

[abaddon]

... everyone in the meeting always looks at me funny when I stand and button. Not sure why...

Cuz they wonder if the pants are coming off, before they realize it's the other way around.

Or maybe it's a "Is it someone else's turn finally to find their pants unzipped?" moment.

 

[laughing dog]

But Rhea, doesn't it give you some relief to know that there a few fashion problems that plague men?

Only if it translates into wholesale correction of fashion plagues!

I'm going to start unzipping my dress when I sit down. That'll fix 'em.

I think more people are going to want to sit at your table.

 

[fast]

Good thread!

 

[Bronzeage]

The general rule, for those who actually care, is to leave the bottom button undone so the suit won't bunch up when sitting. Most men leave it unbuttoned all the time.

The cut of men's suits still date back to the days when a man who wore a jacket, probably would wear it while riding a horse. Sitting on a horse is not like sitting in a chair, so it may take some time for our tailors to catch up with the times.

 

[TV and credit cards]

Sit down, unbutton. Stand up, button. Just one button. It's a rule.
What the fuck a tie is for is beyond me.

 

[ideologyhunter]

Exactly right about ties -- nothing but discomfort. Is there a Freudian deal to the tie?
Side issue (sorry about this derail but I think it's much worse than the jacket thing): what is it with guys who constantly have a two-day stubble on their faces? I know that's a look in movies, but do women actually like these hog-bristle faces mashing up against them (all over...?) Furthermore, how do these guys maintain the stubble look? They can't be shaving every third day because there'd be a cycle to it. Are they doing a half-assed shave, every day? Very mystifying.
About the jackets -- sorry, I just don't see the problem. As someone correctly stated, jackets aren't meant to be lounged in, so you end up fiddling with them, depending on your posture.

 

[Bronzeage]

Exactly right about ties -- nothing but discomfort. Is there a Freudian deal to the tie?
Side issue (sorry about this derail but I think it's much worse than the jacket thing): what is it with guys who constantly have a two-day stubble on their faces? I know that's a look in movies, but do women actually like these hog-bristle faces mashing up against them (all over...?) Furthermore, how do these guys maintain the stubble look? They can't be shaving every third day because there'd be a cycle to it. Are they doing a half-assed shave, every day? Very mystifying.
About the jackets -- sorry, I just don't see the problem. As someone correctly stated, jackets aren't meant to be lounged in, so you end up fiddling with them, depending on your posture.

There are special electric razors that leave the stubble. What you see in movies is the result of 45 extra minutes in the make up chair. Not a practical thing for a working man.

Ties are another leftover from another age. It was part of a uniform. It kept your armor from chafing your neck and gave an opportunity to show the team colors.

 

[James Brown]

A Primer on Suit Buttons

Any suit that looks good buttoned while standing will be uncomfortable while sitting. Nothing men can do about it. If I know that I'm going to be standing up in a minute, I'll button up before attention is on me, but men don't always have the advance notice to do so.

<shrug>

 

[Rhea]

A Primer on Suit Buttons

Any suit that looks good buttoned while standing will be uncomfortable while sitting. Nothing men can do about it. If I know that I'm going to be standing up in a minute, I'll button up before attention is on me, but men don't always have the advance notice to do so.

<shrug>

But see that's what's so funny to me. This is spoken as if there's an immutable law that it must be buttoned, and still they wear something that is uncomfortable buttoned. And they are perfectly fine with that. So much so that they don't mind having this moment of publicly grooming themselves/dressing themselves every time they are asked to stand and be recognized.

It was stark one time at an annual shareholder's meeting of a large company, where one by one the officers were asked to stand and be recognized. The men, every single one, stood and dressed in front of us. NOT ONE thought to button his coat beforehand. The only exception to this was the sole woman, who managed to find an attractive suit that fit while buttoned and sitting (hey! how do you suppose she accomplished that? Why do women's suit coats not require this vanity? I didn't think about that until now). And it does just look really silly. Hear your name, stand, dress yourself, bow in the half-second that's left, undress yourself again, sit. So the whole "but it looks better when it's buttoned is completely destroyed by the fact that we have to watch you button it while our eyes are turned to you and you only just barely get it done before our eyes are turned away, and then in order to be comfortable in your stupid coat, you have to undo it again before sitting.

It's a stupid garment that does that to it's wearer.

Love the link, BTW. "Art of Manliness"

Nothing men can do about it.

And this is, of course, not true. Any more so than it is for bustiers and spike heels. You can change your style. BUck the system. Set a trend.

 

[iolo]

The suit is the conformist's uniform, worn to please his master and as an indication he is tense and unhappy at all times, and ready to grovel. Buttoning up the jacket reinforces this idiocy.

 

[Rhea]

The suit is the conformist's uniform, worn to please his master and as an indication he is tense and unhappy at all times, and ready to grovel. Buttoning up the jacket reinforces this idiocy.

I like the way you think. You may come to my parties and business meetings any time.
I will not be wearing stockings.

 

[thebeave]

Exactly right about ties -- nothing but discomfort. Is there a Freudian deal to the tie?
Side issue (sorry about this derail but I think it's much worse than the jacket thing): what is it with guys who constantly have a two-day stubble on their faces? I know that's a look in movies, but do women actually like these hog-bristle faces mashing up against them (all over...?) Furthermore, how do these guys maintain the stubble look? They can't be shaving every third day because there'd be a cycle to it. Are they doing a half-assed shave, every day? Very mystifying.
About the jackets -- sorry, I just don't see the problem. As someone correctly stated, jackets aren't meant to be lounged in, so you end up fiddling with them, depending on your posture.

There are special electric razors that leave the stubble. What you see in movies is the result of 45 extra minutes in the make up chair. Not a practical thing for a working man.

Ties are another leftover from another age. It was part of a uniform. It kept your armor from chafing your neck and gave an opportunity to show the team colors.

Don Johnson popularized the stubble look back in the 1980's in Miami Vice. I remember reading about a special electric stubble razor that came out about that time called Miami DeVice. Har har.

 

[bigfield]

They could have some elastic tether that closes it up as you stand if it's so important to have it close up as you stand.

How about a magnetic clasp?

Somebody engineer the shit out of this fucking thing, already.