One button undone on a dress shirt doesn’t look very flattering. But it doesn’t expose too much of your chest so it would be appropriate for the office. Two buttons undone are probably the sweet spot. It exposes the right amount of your chest and simply looks better.
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Let’s talk buttons. If you’re working in the upper ranks of the corporate world, you should button all the buttons on your shirt, right up to the collar. If it’s a forward point collar and the wings have buttons, those should be buttoned too. These rules can be slightly loosened if your work environment is also looser.
A high quality traditional shirt has long tails, extending almost to the knees at the back, and so has seven or eight buttons. The vertical strip of fabric running down the front opening is called the placket, and gives a more symmetrical appearance to the joint between the left side, on top, and the right.
At its core, the answer’s simple. “Undoing your top button makes you look (and feel) more relaxed. It works perfectly for outfits with casual shirts. But in a formal outfit, like a suit and tie, you’d of course always do the top button up,” says Thread senior stylist Alice Watt.
That being said, more than two buttons open is never acceptable,” said Mimi Fukuyoshi, vice president and director of men’s merchandise of sportswear and shoes at Bergdorf Goodman. That’s a fair point, as a lot of this comes to down to how your roll with it.
If the last button on the shirt is above the belt, you need an extra button at the bottom of the shirt. Increasing the shirt length to the next threshold point will cause the shirt to be made with an additional button at the bottom of the shirt tail.
Mother-of-pearl buttons, also known as nacre, are cut from linings of mollusk, oysters, abalone, and snail shells. The nacre lining is the same outer coating of pearls, thus the name “mother-of-pearl.” The material is strong, resilient, and naturally elegant.
What is considered a dress shirt?
They are woven in forms like twill, oxford, textured, broadcloth, and pinpoint designs. These are the ways the fabrics are woven into the shirt, with the most common dress shirt being an oxford and the emerging modern fashion favorite being twill. They always have long sleeves.
Place a buttonhole at the bra line. Standard buttonhole placement is 2 to 3 1/2 inches apart. Use a seam gauge to accurately space the buttonholes.
The tradition dates back to King Edward VII from the early 1900s. He unbuttoned the bottom of his waistcoat because he was too fat. He unbuttoned the bottom of his jacket to pay homage to the riding jacket that suits replaced.
Never button the top button.
According to British GQ, the buttoning the top button debate has been running rampant in the fashion world for the last few years. It used to be a definite no-no, especially in the days of suit-and-tie rigidity, but it has emerged as a serious trend.
Fashion – It’s considered to be quite fashionable to unbutton a few buttons. Variety – The spice of life, some people just want something different. Comfort – As you don’t have to wear a tie or a blazer with this look, overall you will feel more comfortable.
Secondly, that there was a time when young dandies would sport two waistcoats at the same time so left the top waistcoat’s bottom button undone so that you could see the one underneath. Thirdly, that it is all to do with comfort while in the saddle and to stop the waistcoat rising up the chest while riding.
SO WHAT IS THIS HIDDEN BUTTON? All johnnie-O sport shirts feature our patented TWEENER BUTTON hidden between the second and third button to bridge the gap between too buttoned-up and not buttoned-up enough.
Quality clothing typically has at least one extra button attached to the label or hem. Next check the buttonholes. These should always be reinforced with densely stitched thread. This keeps the buttons from pulling or even ripping the fabric.
No, it’s not an accident on the manufacturing tip, but actually a practical feature. The holes are sewn horizontally so that the buttons can endure more stress from pulling/movement than the others without stretching out the shirt or the hole itself.
Traditionally, when shirts were still made by humans, this meant reinforcing the button and the buttonhole with a thicker thread, which was either done on a second sewing machine, or as a last step when finishing a job. Hence, the different thread and different color.
George Washington Button Sets $225,000 World Record at Heritage Auctions. Dallas, Texas – Not only did the earliest artifact referring to George Washington as the “Father of His Country” set a world record when it sold for $225,000 in Heritage Auction’s Feb.
In general, clothing button prices can range from a few cents to a few hundred dollars each. Only rare examples in stellar condition bring high dollar values though. Embellishments like hand painting and enameling on antique French or Victorian buttons can lead them to be worth $200 or more.
Our Roma Plastic buttons are the default option for most custom shirts and for good reason– they’re specially developed to withstand chipping and exposure to high heat.
Do you tuck in dress shirts with jeans?
In general, a very good rule of thumb is to leave your dress shirt untucked. This means you will have to make sure the length is right; if your shirt is too long it’ll look like you’re wearing a dress, which isn’t the look most of you are going for if I had to place my bets.