1. Never wear a short sleeve shirt with a tie. Short sleeve shirts are perceived
as lower class apparel. Fine as part of a uniform or if you aspire to be a fast-food
manager, not if you want to project a professional image.
2. Shoes are one of the most evaluated elements of men's wardrobes. Your shoes
should be clean, shined, in good repair and appropriate for the occasion. If you are
wearing a suit, wear lace-up shoes.
Don’t wear the same shoe on consecutive days and keep shoetrees in your shoes
when you’re not wearing them.
3. Trousers should be long enough to cover your socks, and socks should cover
your shins even when you cross your legs. Pants are long enough if they have a
slight break in the front.
Pleats and cuffs are traditional and functional. Pleats let you sit down comfortably
and cuffs add weight to the bottoms allowing for proper drape.
4. Never wear both a belt and braces (suspenders). You'll appear insecure.
5. Socks should match your trousers.
6. Belts should match your shoes.
7. Ties should reach your belt line. This is neither arbitrary nor negotiable.
Too short of a tie makes you look like a rube.
8. Properly knotted ties have a “dimple” under the knot. Clips and tacks are out of date.
How to get a dimple under your knot?
Place your index finger in the middle of the tie just under where the knot is forming,
pinch that part of the necktie between your thumb and middle finger and squeeze together
as you pull it down and tighten the knot.
The necktie knot should hide the collar button.
9. Suit and Sports jackets are symbols of authority. However the bottom buttons
of men's jackets are not designed to be buttoned, since King Edward VII gained weight,
and started a fashion trend (see detail below).
Single Breasted suits can have one, two, three or more buttons. Two and three button
jackets are classic, one or more than three get you into the fashion forward arena,
which is more suitable for social events than business. With two button jackets only
the top button is fastened.
With three button jackets, you can close the middle, or middle and top button.
Some suits are made so that the lapels roll to the middle button. On those suits
you leave the top button unfastened. Some East Coast hipsters fasten only the
top of three buttons!
Four or more button jackets may be designed to fasten all the buttons, even the
bottom. If the bottom button of a four button can be closed without a noticeable
pulling of the fabric, it’s ok to close or leave it open.
Double Breasted suits are the more formal of the two styles and can have four to
six buttons with one or two “to button”. They are often identified by a two-number
designation such as 4/2, 4/1 or 6/2 (also “four to two”).
Translated, the first number gives the total number of front buttons and the second is
the number of functioning buttonholes. It doesn’t always mean that all the buttons
have to be fastened.
Often only the middle or upper button is secured on a 4/2 or 6/2, but the Duke of Kent
started buttoning only his lower button creating a longer diagonal line across his chest
giving the wearer a thinner, more dynamic look.
Why do men never button the bottom button of your suit, sports jacket, vest or Cardigan sweater?
King Edward VII, “Bertie”, son of Victoria (1841 – 1910, King 1901 - 1910) was so
heavy that he could not get the bottom button fastened on his vest or to be more
historically kind, maybe he just forgot. His subjects taking it as a fashion statement
followed his lead and today most men’s suits, sports jackets or vests are not designed
to button the bottom button.
The tradition of not buttoning the bottom button may have also come from the
early waistcoats, which were very long. It may have been out of necessity of
being able to walk that the bottom buttons were left undone.
10. Suit and Sports jackets should fit properly which includes showing 1/4" to 1/2”
of “linen” or shirtsleeve at the jacket sleeve.
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