quick question about suits

[Bob]

i have to wear a suit today for a thing and i have a question about suits

what is the ettiquette for buttoning the jacket? i think it looks a bit better buttoned up (while i'm standing, anyways), but it seems like whenever people on TV are wearing suits, they're unbuttoned. is that generally what you're supposed to do?

and if you ARE allowed to button them, i seem to remember vaguely hearing something about leaving one of the buttons unbuttoned, either the top one or the bottom one, i can't remember which. is that true?

i don't know what i'm doing with suits, you see

[The Notorious LOL]

unbutton it when sitting.


its fine to keep it buttoned when not sitting though

[Rock]

Whatever happened to wearing stuff the way you like to wear it and not how people say you should wear it?

[Bob]

sweet

am i supposed to leave one of the buttons undone?

[paul jones]

I know fuck all on the suits subject too

[The Notorious LOL]

whenever I wear a suit (which is all the time) I typically button both if I feel saucy.


often times I dont, and leave it unbuttoned

[abcdefz]

Suit etiquette for men

Buttoning the suit

Double-breasted suits are always kept buttoned. When there is more than one to-button (as in a traditional six-on-two arrangement), only the top one is to be fastened. Often, this is the only one that can be properly fastened, because the bottom to-button often lacks a corresponding interior flap button. In the case of arrangement such as the six-on-one, particularly popular when the double-breasted suit first staged a comeback in the 1980s, one has no choice but to fasten the bottom button as this is the only option.

Single-breasted suits are buttoned while standing. In a three-button suit, all but the bottom button can be done up, but if one it is the middle one, if two it is the middle and top ones. In two button suits it is appropriate to button the top button, but never the bottom button only. When sitting the jacket should be unbuttoned to prevent bunching. Three-button suits present a couple of special situations. In the case of three-button suits with lapels that roll over the top button, the top button should not be fastened. These are typically older three-button jackets; contemporary three-button suits are not normally designed this way. With a typical three-button suit made today, one has the option of buttoning only the middle button in the manner of the old three-button cuts, or following the convention of buttoning every button but the bottom-most one.

[mikizee]

just do what letterman does, while talking button up then unbutton. repeat.

ps i read that as 'quick question about sluts'

[Bob]

ah, i have a single breasted 3 button suit...it sucks that i'm not supposed to button the bottom one, because i tied my tie a little too long, and it sticks out the bottom of the suit a little

i don't wanna touch it though, because i usually tie them too short, and the narrow part sticks out...i'm just happy i avoided that here

[abcdefz]

If you just would've gone with the diving suit like I suggested, none of this would be an issue.

[DIGI]

whenever I wear a suit (which is all the time)

haha.(y)

[QueenAdrock]

ps i read that as 'quick question about sluts'

ME TOO!

Go get yourself a slut, Bob.

[synch]

He has no questions about those.

[faz]

Yeah, a friend was teaching me about suits last week, he's also a law student. He taught me "always button, sometimes button, never button" for top middle and bottom.

But yes, this has been stated already. I just wanted to have some input on a thread about suits.

[The Notorious LOL]

suits

[hpdrifter]

My boyfriend told me about the not buttoning the bottom button thing. He worked at a bank and wore suits every day. He said it was a fashion thing.

I still don't really get it but jesus Bob, whatever you do, don't button the bottom fucking button!

[Dorothy Wood]

you don't really need advice, suit-wearing show off!

[Documad]

I'm a woman, but when I'm going to be jumping up and down a lot during the day I stay buttoned up all the time. Women can wear suit coats that are shorter than guys' suit coats, and thus bunching isn't a big deal.

What is this stuff about buttoning everything except the bottom? The guys I work with don't do that. I think it would look like you've got a big tummy. I'm going to ask questions at lunch tomorrow.

(If you're doing a mock argument, stay buttoned up and for the love of god don't put your hands in your pockets and don't put anything else in your pockets either.)

[Bob]

i got through the day, i was mostly sitting down, so i didn't button anything, really

then at the end of the day, there was loads of drinking, so nobody cared if anybody had their suits buttoned

but while i was standing, during the period of the day where people sober, i didn't button the bottom button

you would not believe the amount of sex i had due to the fact that i did not button the bottom button

jesus christ guys, so much sex

[na§tee]

can i loosen up your buttons, bob, pussycat doll stylee? :cool:

[BangkokB]

Yea, I couldn't say anything at the time but now the cats outta of the bag and I've had a few beers under my belt I'll loose lips say that if you don't button that bottom button your life will be exactly like that Tom Cruise movie where he stumpled into an orgy

[Lex Diamonds]

ps i read that as 'quick question about sluts'
Haha, me too.

I need some sex. :(

[Bob]

I'm a woman, but when I'm going to be jumping up and down a lot during the day I stay buttoned up all the time. Women can wear suit coats that are shorter than guys' suit coats, and thus bunching isn't a big deal.

What is this stuff about buttoning everything except the bottom? The guys I work with don't do that. I think it would look like you've got a big tummy. I'm going to ask questions at lunch tomorrow.

(If you're doing a mock argument, stay buttoned up and for the love of god don't put your hands in your pockets and don't put anything else in your pockets either.)

did you figure out the deal about the bottom button? i have a mock oral argument on either tuesday or thursday and i have to bust out the suit again

well she didn't say we had to wear suits, just a tie at least, but i'm wearing the suit because it makes me feel more lawyery

i would like to button that bottom button though, it just doesn't feel right unbuttoned. maybe there's an exception for lawyers

[jabumbo]

somebody told me once the reason why the bottom button isn't done is because some king back in the day ate so much that he needed to undo the button and from there the people around him adopted it as the fashion


i don't know how much validity there is in that, but i know they weren't just making the story up out of nowhere

[Bob]

the only reason i knew to even ask about the bottom (or top?) button was that i vaguely remembered something from the colbert report, where he had an interview with some woman, and one of them said something like "a gentleman never buttons the ??? button because it has something to do with bowing to a woman or something like that", i clearly don't remember it very distinctly

also, i just read my own topic as "quick question about sluts", that can't be good

[Documad]

did you figure out the deal about the bottom button? i have a mock oral argument on either tuesday or thursday and i have to bust out the suit again

well she didn't say we had to wear suits, just a tie at least, but i'm wearing the suit because it makes me feel more lawyery

i would like to button that bottom button though, it just doesn't feel right unbuttoned. maybe there's an exception for lawyers
I asked a bunch of male lawyers ranging in age from 28 to mid 50s. One of them had heard of not buttoning the bottom button, but the rest of them hadn't heard of it at all. One said that he wears suits with only two buttons and buttons the top one when he stands in court. He said that on a three button suit he buttons the middle one while standing in court.

Most of the guys said it doesn't matter at all and you should do whatever makes you feel comfortable because it's a whole lot more important to concentrate on what you're saying than what you're wearing. I do the same things with my clothes. I wear my older shoes to court because I'm worried that I'll trip over my own feet if I'm not used to the shoes. I saw an attorney trip over her own purse in court once, so I never put anything near my feet at counsel table.

AGAIN: TAKE YOUR CHANGE AND KEYS OUT OF YOUR POCKETS AND DON'T PUT YOUR HANDS IN THEM.

[Laver1969]

What is this stuff about buttoning everything except the bottom? The guys I work with don't do that. I think it would look like you've got a big tummy. I'm going to ask questions at lunch tomorrow.


When I used to wear a suit everyday and see people in suits everyday...and I never saw someone button the bottom button of a two button jacket.

On a three button jacket, the top and middle are normally buttoned and the bottom one unbuttoned.

So I guess in my world there's a bottom unbuttoned rule. :p

[Bob]

so there's an exception for either lawyers or people from minnesota, i guess

thanks for the research documad, but i think i'll leave it unbuttoned just to be on the safe side...the only problem last time was that i tied my tie too long, and it stuck out the bottom when i left the button undone

[Laver1969]

so there's an exception for either lawyers or people from minnesota, i guess

thanks for the research documad, but i think i'll leave it unbuttoned just to be on the safe side...the only problem last time was that i tied my tie too long, and it stuck out the bottom when i left the button undone

That a whole other issue. What's the appropriate length of the tie. The length that I favor is that the end of the tie just reach the bottom of your belt.

Not too short, not too long.

[Documad]

There is nothing that looks sillier than a guy with a tie that's too short. There are guys who put on weight and their ties get shorter, or it's clear that their ties are really really old.

My survey is probably biased, because the attorneys I work go to court often and they're more comfortable in court. If you asked an attorney who only goes to court once a month, you might get a different answer. You need to realize that when you're in trial court, you usually get up and down all the time, so it might be odd to button and unbotton all the time. If you're making an oral argument at an appellate court, you stand up for 15-30 minutes and spend the rest of the time sitting, so you're only buttoning once.

[Bob]

i had my argument today, i think i did alright. i'm not generally a great public speaker, i either forget my words, or i stare at the script, or i talk too fast, or something, but i think i did ok today. i rehearsed what i wanted to say over and over to the point where i could do it without even looking at anything i'd written down, and i think it showed. i handled the "judge"'s questions pretty well, i didn't freeze up or anything.

i got kind of worried though, because she stopped me within like my first 30 seconds of speaking. i decided i wanted to open up with an emotional appeal, and she stops me and goes "you realize that i can't deny the motion for summary judgment just because it'll make the plaintiff's life suck, right?" and i go "er uh, yes, but i do have more" and everyone laughed, only they were laughing with me, not at me, so it made everything work out pretty well from there. i guess it worked out pretty well in the end.

something curious happened though. my tie apparently became a sentient being while i was speaking, because it seemed to be tightening itself throughout my argument. i could feel my face getting red, it felt like my head was inflating or something. i dunno what that was about.

i did end up buttoning the bottom button, but i was standing in front of a podium, so nobody could see anyways.

[Documad]

That sounds like a wonderful argument for first year. Were the judges pretending to be a trial or appellate court? (I pretend to be a judge quite often for those things.)

[Bob]

trial court

i dunno i kind of feel like she might have been taking it easy on me a little, because after i finished my argument, and other sets of people were going, i noticed some holes in my argument that definitely begged for questions, but she didn't say anything. i think i could've answered 'em but i dunno

also, i think that rehearsing my argument so heavily might have been a mistake, because i had my own material so firmly burned into my head that there was no room for any other stuff, like my opponent's argument. i went after she did, and after it was all over, i looked back and realized i could have definitely made my position better by responding to certain things she said, but i dunno, when you're up there, you do what you can.

i did ok, but i don't think oral arguments are in my future.

i looked fantastic though

[Documad]

Many people have a really horrible experience the first time. It sounds like you did really well. It's a just a matter of practice. You will get better at it -- you will get more comfortable and less tied to your script.

[Bob]

yeah i was really pretty impressed with myself to be honest. usually when i have to do these things, i stare at the script the whole time, but i really didn't even have a script this time. i just had a basic outline of the points i wanted to cover, and i covered them. i usually can never do that, i get nervous and forget what i'm talking about.

maybe it's just because for this particular "case" we've been working on it all semester, so i've researched and written about the facts and issues for the past, i dunno, 3 months or so, so they're pretty strongly ingrained in my head, i didn't need to write a specific script. but yeah, i was surprisingly comfortable up there.

i was worried because usually what i do for oral presentations is i inject some humor into it. if i can get a laugh, i feel much more comfortable. however, a court of law is no place for jokes, if you're up there cracking jokes i imagine that the judge/jury gets a feeling that you're not taking the case seriously, which, as a lawyer, you're obviously supposed to do. so i couldn't do that, but i still managed to get a laugh early, so that was nice.

[yeahwho]

I sometimes really regret the fact I didn't get a job where I could wear a suit. Suits are cool. I guess I could wear a suit to work, but I work on boats, so I'd have to take it off or get really messy with the wind and machinery and all.

Suits are becoming less and less the attire nowadays, whenever I look at pictures from the 40's, 50's and early 60's everyone wore suits.

It would be cool if you could dress like Prince in court. All purple with a big fucked up white guitar.

[befsquire]

jurors like to laugh during jury selection, so laughter does have a place in the courtroom. the more they laugh, the more talkative they seem to get, and they end up adoring the person who makes them laugh and tend to try to let you know whether they would be good for your jury or not.

[BangkokB]

I was in the elevator yesterday with a farang that wore flip flops with his suit

I suppose that is frowned on even moreso than buttoning all the buttons

Then I thought of the Easy Lover video and maybe just maybe this guy has the inside track

[SOP]

Shoes and suits!
Shoes and suits!
Supreme Court.