10 Things You Should Know About The Suit Jacket The Suit Jacket in Detail
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Hi!
I'm Antonio Centeno.
I'm the founder of Real Men Real Style and A Tailored Suit.
Today, I'm going to be talking about the men's suit, the jacket in detail.
In fact, I'm going to link you over to an article at A Tailored Suit in which I go into
the ten different details.
I'm going to be talking about it here in this quick video, but before I get started, guys,
really quick, I want to let you know I'm not going to focus in on suit colors, jacket colors.
I'm not going to talk about that in this video.
In addition, I'm not going to be talking about the full suits, so I'm not going to cover
trousers.
I'm not going to cover shoes.
I'm not going to cover shirts.
Instead, I'm going to talk about ten particular style details when it pertains to the jacket,
so very detailed.
Let me go ahead and dive into it.
Point number one, when you're looking at jackets, when you're out there making a decision of
what type of suit jacket you're going to go with, you're either going to have to go with
single or double-breasted suits, so that's the first thing.
Now, to be honest, most of the stores out there aren't going to have double-breasted
jackets, but if you are in a store that has double-breasted jackets, that's a good thing.
It's usually a sign of quality, a little bit more old school, probably a store like Brooks
Brothers or something like that, but double-breasted jackets are very rare nowadays.
You may be asking why are they out of style.
Really it did have to do with the trends, but it also has to do with actually the wars.
I'm talking World War II in particular, the shortage of clothing.
Actually, they had rationing and all of a sudden, double-breasted jackets, which used
more fabric, basically were made less.
Also, when the vets were coming back, most of them in military uniforms had been single-breasted.
They got used to it.
All of a sudden, we saw the double-breasted jacket just fall out of favor.
Now, point number two and what we're going to talk about, single-breasted jackets.
You're going to see two and three-button jackets are going to be the most common.
Now, right here I'm wearing a three-button jacket.
I have a lot of jackets especially sports jackets, which are two-button jackets.
You will occasionally see one button jackets, those that are going to be in formal wear
mostly.
You will also see four-button, five-button, and in some cases, no-button jackets.
Those last ones, don’t wear them.
They're a real abomination.
Don’t have them custom-made either.
Now, some basketball players will say -- I understand if you're seven feet tall.
Maybe then consider a four-button jacket.
It'll look a little bit more proportion, but if you're not beyond probably 6'6", let's
not even go there.
So what's going to be the decision then?
Mostly between two and three-button jackets.
I'm going to recommend for most men to start with a two-button.
The second jacket, sure, a three-button.
Now, understand there is a little bit of play between the two.
There's also a two-and-a-half and this is where actually it's designed not to button
that top button.
Now, the rules are the center button on a three-button is always; the top button on
a three-button, sometimes; and the bottom button never on both jackets, while the top
button on the two-button is always.
But as you can see right here, I've got two buttons buttoned.
This is going to be a little bit more formal-looking, and that's where the three-button shines.
It's a little bit more formal, a little bit more covered up of a look.
There have actually been scientific studies that have shown the more of our body that
we cover, actually the more formal and more intelligent we look.
So if you're giving a lot of presentations, maybe a three-button is the way you would
want to go.
It's a little bit more old school and sometimes it falls in and out of favor.
I like two buttons though for most of my jackets and the reason being they're a little bit
more casual and I mostly wear sports jackets, but for suit jackets, a two-button is perfectly
fine especially if it's going with a suit that is solid dark in color, but if you're
going to start bringing in pinstripes, other types of patterns, then you may want to also
consider a three.
So we've talked about single versus double, three versus two.
Let's talk about the lapels now, so this is point number three.
Notch lapels are going to be by far the most common.
If you want to change it up a bit, make the jacket a little bit more formal, then you
can go with peak lapels.
Peak lapels are always going to be on a double-breasted jacket, so if you've ever seen a double-breasted
jacket with notch lapels, then run.
That is not a good look.
Now, there is a third type of lapel that we can talk about and that's going to be the
shawl lapel.
The shawl lapel is mostly going to be in black tie.
Occasionally, you will see it also on a double-breasted jacket, but that's one of the more formal
and I would say it's pretty rare, so if you're looking at shawl lapels, you're probably already
more advanced than what this video is going to cover.
Point number four to look at in a suit jacket is going to be the shoulder style.
What do I mean by that?
Well, we're going to have very soft shoulders and the soft shoulders are going to be more
of the Italian look, and that's considered also a little bit less formal versus more
structured shoulders, which are going to be more of the English look and they're going
to be built up a bit more.
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You will also see some Italian structured shoulders and they're going to have a little
bit of roping on that, a little bit of a bump here on the end, and those are going to be
considered more formal.
Now, I rarely ever see -- if you get all the other details, just make sure that whenever
you buy a suit, it actually fits you in the shoulders.
It if looks a little bit too structured, then possibly ask the salesman for a less structured,
softer shoulder and he'll probably be impressed.
Okay, so point number five, let's talk about the silhouette of the suit.
We're either going to have the sack, we're going to have the fitted or the Italian as
some people call it, and we're going to have the structured, which is going to be more
of the English look.
With the sack, that's where it hangs down.
It's not going to be very tight around the midsection, known also as the American Brooks
Brothers style.
This has been around for about a hundred years, very classic, but in my opinion, not always
going to be well suited to a man who takes care of his body.
Now, the fitted is going to be more of a European look.
It's going to fit the body exactly like it just says.
However, it does need to be tailored and adjusted.
We're going to see this in a lot of designer suits, but if you carry a bit of weight around
the midsection, you don’t necessarily want to go with a fitted suit, although you can
go with something that maybe is a little bit more adjusted.
I've seen some guys pull it off, but they don’t have too big of a midsection.
Now, the structured jacket, the English one, this is where we're going to see the actual
chest and the shoulders built up.
You're going to have more of a silhouette.
You will have some waist suppression, but this is going to be something that has a very
-- it's going to be the most formal of all of the looks we just talked about.
Point number six, let's talk about pockets.
You're going to see different types of pockets out there.
The most common you will have is single-breast pocket on the left-hand side.
In some of my videos, you may see I have a breast pocket on the right hand side and you
can leave a comment down below of why you think I do that.
Well, I'll just tell you guys.
Basically, it is because I enjoy doing things and challenging the status quo and having
fun with some of my clothing, but you will also see pockets down here on the hip area
of the jacket.
These pockets mostly will be straight across.
You will occasionally see slanted or what's known as hacking pockets.
Those are more sport.
The English are a big fan of them.
Another thing you'll see out there are patch pockets.
Patch pockets are very informal and are going to be more reserved for sports jackets and
sometimes a blazer.
Let's talk now about sleeve buttons.
Most jackets are going to have about four, some will have three, some will have five,
and some will have other variations, but the number is -- I would say four is going to
be standard on a suit.
Three is perfectly fine on a suit.
Below three, all of a sudden, we start getting into custom sports jackets and things I see
there.
Five has become a little bit more fashionable, and some people talk about the buttons actually
kissing where there's a bit of overlap.
When it comes down to it, this is a very small detail.
Just make sure that you've got about four buttons.
If you start to see weird button contrasting or just a strange overlap or some contrast
stitching, then you may want to question, "Is this more of a designer suit?"
Now, let's talk about the inside lining, so this is point number eight.
Most jackets on the inside lining, they're going to go with a very simple inside lining
that actually somewhat matches the outer exterior.
It doesn’t really get out there.
Custom jackets, a lot of times you'll see someone go with something that's a bit more
loud, something that's a bit more unique.
Most of the time, they're going to be made from Bemberg.
If you see that the inside of the jacket is made from an unnatural material, and I'm talking
something like rayon or something that doesn’t breathe as well, be very careful.
That can affect the breathability.
Bemberg is actually made from wood pulp and is very breathable.
You'll also see some silk out there.
Silk I like to stay away from because it's more expensive and if it tears, very, very
difficult to fix.
Now, let's talk about point number nine, which are jacket vents.
This goes back to when we're talking about the various silhouettes -- sack, fitted, versus
structured.
Usually on vents, if you have no vents, that's going to be more of the Italian look.
It allows for a more fitted look.
Single vents in the back, these are often accompanied with most mass-manufactured jackets
because they're the least expensive to build.
I'm not a fan of them because if you put your hands in your pocket, basically the back opens
up and it exposes your backside.
My favorite is the double vent or the two-sided vent, and the reason being, you can put your
hand in your pocket whenever you walk.
I think it creates the nicest look.
It is the best of both worlds.
It's also the most expensive to manufacture, which is why we rarely see it in off-the-rack
clothing.
Finally, let's talk about the lapel button.
If you look on a jacket, there should be a little buttonhole right in here and that's
because these jackets were originally designed to be able to close up and button.
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Nowadays, this is used to put in a boutonniere and there should be a small little latch right
behind it to hold a flower.
All right, guys, let me know what you think.
That is the men's suit, the jacket in detail.
Hopefully, you learned something in the video.
See you in the next one.
Bye-bye.
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