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Yes.

 

Well that was rather a short chapter! I will try to elaborate:

 

There is a gargantuan amount written and spoken about the “kind of man” who should be wearing a double breasted suit and every word of it is correct. And fundamentally wrong. Some argue that the double breasted suit (DB for short) is for the bigger chap, trying to disguise  his bulk by spreading features laterally, using the buttons and pockets to break up the great swathes of cloth that cross the torso. Others argue that the skinny guy looking to add bulk to his meagre frame should embrace the extra folds of cloth that will give him breadth. Both are correct, but no man should be excluded from wearing a DB suit.

 

The key with getting a DB suit that looks flattering is the spacing of the buttons and the “depth” of the overlap. On a skinny guy an overlap of just a few inches gives him the appearance of width in a flattering way, whereas a jacket that wraps around to where a pocket would be swamps him. In the same fashion a bigger chap with a small overlap looks comically like he is bursting out of his suit. On this gent however the wide overlap helps keep the jacket looking proportional despite its larger size.

 

One area in which I disagree with the crowd however, is that I do not  wholly believe that a double breasted suit can make a man look thinner or fatter. A double breasted suit will either look correct and good or incorrect and bad. I have yet to meet a man who asks me for a double breasted suit who is suddenly ecstatic with his size after donning it. In my opinion the contention in whether or not one should wear a double breasted suit does not arise from the garment it’s self but from the unrealistic expectations people place upon it. A good tailor (or a well cut off-the-rack model) will flatter any man, but the crux is finding that suit.

 

There is no formula for finding the perfect width for buttons either, and in this instance the mirror is your best friend. If you look at yourself and see that the buttons are concentrated in the centre of your belly, then they are too narrow. Likewise if you feel that they leave a gulf between them as they creep towards your sides, they are too wide.

 

I am hesitant to get into the details and configurations of double breasted suits, as they can come with as many as 8 buttons, and as few as 2, with trapezoidal configurations and vertical alignments, but unless you are dealing with a bespoke maker, you will have no options in what the suit has. You will either like the way it looks, or dislike it.

 

I will say this however, if you do find a DB suit that looks good, fits well and you wish to purchase, make sure that you never do up the bottom button. Having all of the buttons done up looks starched, unnatural and should be left to those whose double breasted jacket is part of a uniform.