{"id":44648,"date":"2025-10-13T18:16:41","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T16:16:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/husbands-paris.com\/en\/?p=44648"},"modified":"2025-10-13T18:16:41","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T16:16:41","slug":"double-breasted-suit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpadmin.husbands-paris.com\/en\/journal\/double-breasted-suit\/","title":{"rendered":"THE DOUBLE-BREASTED SUIT"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\u201cHe had on a double-breasted suit of the type then known as the pillbox; it was chalk-striped, pink on blue; the trousers hugged his ankles.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2015 Saul Bellow, Seize the Day<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The double-breasted suit has its origins to the British Navy\u2019s naval reefer jacket, which resembles today\u2019s peacoat. Sailors responsible for \u201creefing the sails\u201d wore these jackets, which could be fasted across the chest to protect from water and wind. Officers quickly adopted an embellished version with gold buttons on navy cloth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the late 19th century, the double-breasted jacket transitioned from military utility to leisure wear. By the 1930s, its prominence grew with the introduction of the so-called \u201cLondon Drape\u201d, which was originally a suit design for Prince Edward, the Duke of Windsor. When we remember the double-breasted jackets of Hollywood\u2019s Golden Era, this \u201cLondon Drape\u201d is what we recall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The jacket is constructed most commonly in 6\u00d72, 4\u00d72, or 4\u00d71 buttons configurations. Despite having so many buttons, the jacket is fastened with only two: one exterior and one interior \u201canchor button\u201d, leaving the rest largely ornamental. The \u201canchor button\u201d maintains the jacket\u2019s structure, and the shape of the right lapel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of its construction, the sharp lapels of a double-breasted jacket, from the tip of a peaked lapel down to two crossed points at the waist, create the illusion of height. At the same time, the double row of buttons and the extra flap of cloth, however, create breadth. Combined, in the best cases the jacket achieves and almost architectural geometry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many new variations emerged over time, including a four-button design credited to the Duke of Kent\u2013\u2013where the lapels come with a hefty roll, and only the bottom button is fastened\u2013\u2013a look that resurfaced in the 80s, dominated by thick shoulders and a buttoning point below the natural waist. Designing for The Beatles in the late 1960s, tailors like Tommy Nutter brought the buttons up and closer together, creating a leaner figure. The 1990s saw a resurgence of the double breasted, led chiefly by Giorgio Armani\u2019s reinterpretation. He introduced broader shoulders, an enhanced drape, kept a lowered buttoning point but brought it closer to the natural waist. And most strikingly perhaps, Armani dared to move away from the militaristic heritage by changing peak lapels for notch lapels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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DOUBLE-BREASTED SUIT<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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<\/span>\"double
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double-breasted jacket, Armani, 80s.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>\"GERE,
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GERE, Richard, act. SCHRADER, Paul, dir. American Gigolo, 1980.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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<\/span>\"\"
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GOLDBATT, DAVID, photgr. Man with an injured arm. Hillbrow, Johannesburg. June, 1972.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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<\/span>\"ONASSIS,
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ONASSIS, Aristoteles, entrep. Los Angeles, 1968.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>\"RIEFENSTAHL,
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JAGGER, Mick, sing. JAGGER, Bianca, act. 1974.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>\"publicity.
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publicity. Uomo Vogue n\u00b050. August, 1976.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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