Is Joe Biden going to bring back the three-button suit?

[Aristus]

As a clothes-horse, I keep pretty close tabs on these things. The three-button suit, once the mainstay of the 1940's and 50's men's wardrobe, experienced a drop in popularity in the 1960's, as JFK's embrace of the two-button, single-breasted suit sparked a surge in popularity of the sleek look.

The classic three-button's star rose again in the 1990's, helped along by workplace comedies like News Radio. Ditching the 1980's-style neon colors, unorthodox fabrics, narrow lapels, etc. the fashion world re-embraced the unflashy, unfussy three-button.

The suit, with its appealing selection of button configurations, (from the top: sometimes-always-never) disappeared from men's stores again, along with the lordly but cumbersome double-breasted suit, in the early 2000's, replaced once again by the two-button, single-breasted.

Now it looks like Joe Biden may be bringing back the three-button. Although he seems to be juicing up the simple design with pinstripes.

After four years of Trump's baggy, poor-tailored sack suits worn with scornful indifference, it's nice to see athletically-built Joe Biden bringing back some quality tailoring and simple pride in appearance.

[jorgevlorgan]

1. The next fox news scandal unfolding right before us

[Aristus]

4. Fine. Bring it on.

"HE'S WELL-DRESSED! HE'S WELL-TAILORED! HE'S PHYSICALLY-FIT! HOW LONG IS THIS GOING TO GO ON? THIS IS THE END OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY!!!"

Fuck them and their fucked up fuckedness…

Joe Biden is the Man!

[aaaaaa5a]

12. Not since Obama's tan suit have a seen such an outrage in the oval office! NT

[redstatebluegirl]

2. Joe's suits make me smile as I think about my husband's uncle who I loved dearly.

He was always in a tailored suit and crisp white shirt. He was an executive for a large insurance company. I see Joe and think of Uncle David.

[Raine]

63. My Uncle Charlie was like that

he always wore a white shirt, always wore a hat not a baseball cap but a real hat with a brim. When real casual occasion he still wore a white shirt, suit coat and his hat, he just skipped the neck tie. I miss him. ?️

[frazzled]

3. The higher stance is ok for him because he's tall

and it can provide better proportion for a tall person. But whatever ... Joe is old school, he doesn’t need to look hip.

[northoftheborder]

5. President Biden always looks sharp as a tack!

Love his well-tailored suits, tie and shirt combos, his erect carriage----

One thing if I were a man I would want to bring back is the felt HAT! Especially in the winter; don't know how they keep their heads warm. And for sun protection in the summer, would make sense.

[Dream Girl]

7. Agree. My dad was a blue collar guy, but he always wore his fedora.

I was such an OG look.

[Deminpenn]

34. My dad was never without his wing tip shoes

to wear with his suits. He always kept them buffed and polished. He could've taught a master class in the perfect necktie knot, too.

[Mr.Bill]

23. So does his wife. n/t

[Raine]

61. Yes, I've been noticing how Jill dresses

I love her fashion choices! ?️

[CrispyQ]

6. "Every girl's crazy about a sharp dressed man."

Joe always looks sharp! That first debate with the Con, I wondered, what color tie will Joe wear? Black & white. Looked so high class.

[Aristus]

8. That's why, before COVID-19 and the "quarantine fifteen",

I used to try to dress nicely whenever I could. I've got a closet bulging with tailored clothing.

Someone once told me "If you can't be good-looking, be well-dressed."

I think it was my mother...

[PatSeg]

36. Ha, ha, ha!

Was your own mother telling you that you weren't good looking? Well, I hope she found you to be well-dressed then.

[Aristus]

38. I don't think she did it intentionally.

But when I was a kid, I used to complain that I didn't like the way I looked. Rather than saying the dutiful parental "You look fine, sweetie." she would say "Well then, try to dress nicely instead."

[PatSeg]

40. Oh, I love it

One of those lessons you apparently took to heart then.

[Budi]

19. Ok that's going in Music Appreciation for President Joe

Thanks !

[Dream Girl]

9. No red tie down to his knees. No huge baggy pants.

[Aristus]

13. It's like T***p only half-listened to some cockamamie "Dress For Success" seminar,

and then did everything they suggested, only upside-down and backward.

I can dress like a million bucks on a modest budget.

T***p probably spends millions on his wardrobe, and it looks like a buck ninety-five...

[FSogol]

50. No kitten heels.

[Klaralven]

10. Suits are obsolete

[Aristus]

15. I don't agree.

The only people who say that are people who don't wear them.

And that's fine...

[Dagstead Bumwood]

33. After working at home for this past year

for me, Dockers and jeans are obsolete. Bring on the sweats!

[Blue_true]

65. There are some occasions where they are important.

I prefer the three-button, thin double-breasted look that President Biden has on, though I prefer having the third button a bit higher, because I button all three when sitting.

[misanthrope]

75. Not for heads of state

He's not a data processor working from home.

[Klaralven]

78. It didn't look like a state occasion.

He appears to be walking down the colonnade from the residence to the office.

He should dress comfortably for work. Odds are that the suit coat goes on a hanger as soon as he's at the office.

It's interesting how over the last year, the movers and shakers of business and finance have taken to appearing on CNBC and Bloomberg for interviews in casual wear.

"Suit" is a synonym for clueless incompetence typified by the pointy-haired boss in Dilbert.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

11. The three-button suit does NOT need to make a come back.

Though I was always shocked at how poorly tailored the genius billionaire's clothes were.

[Dream Girl]

17. I like them. It's a very cool like in a Madmen sort of way.

[Blue_true]

66. They are elegant. I like them with a medium starch, medium blue

long sleeve shirt and a dark blue silk tie, no patterns.

[beaglelover]

14. And thankfully his suit jacket covers his bottom. I've hated the style over the last 5 or so years

where the suit jacket is very short and doesn't cover the bottom. Looks hideous.

[Aristus]

16. The problem with the fashion industry,

is that items like the minimalist skinny-suit should only be worn by minimalist skinny models.

Everyone wearing tailored clothing should have it tailored to their build, not the build of the guy in the magazine.

[beaglelover]

18. So true!

[Blue_true]

67. Exactly. nt

[sir pball]

68. Thankfully it's as easy to get made to measure as OTR nowadays

One small point for globalization, there's a thriving e-tailor industry - dozens of webstores will take your measurements and fabric/style choices, and in a month or so a fine, custom-made suit arrives at your doorstep. Some of them even have storefronts where you can get professionaly measured and check out the fabrics.

Sure, it's not bespoke, but the vast majority are under $1000, as opposed to five figures.

[PatSeg]

21. Yes, I hate the look where it appears

that someone in his early twenties is trying to fit into the suit he wore for high school graduation and the suit is two sizes too small. I don't know who thinks that looks good, but to me it appears too tight and very uncomfortable to wear, not to mention unsightly. And that one button that leaves the bottom part of the shirt showing, as if the guy has gained 20 pounds since he last wore the suit.

Once every man has replaced his old suits or had them tailored to this new too tight, too small look, the fashion industry will bring back a looser, more comfortable style and guys will have to go out buy a new wardrobe!

That said, yes Joe is a really sharp dresser.

[Aristus]

30. Tailors cut the suit coat in a manner that assumes the bottom button will remain unbuttoned.

Leaving the bottom one undone has been the fashion for decades now, and it's not likely to change any time soon.

Not every guy gets this message, and buttons the bottom button, ruining the drape of the coat and making it look too tight.

I once worked in a men's clothing store and was fitting a guy for a suit. During the final measurement, he put on the coat and buttoned all the buttons, including the bottom one. When I advised him to leave that one undone, he told me he liked it buttoned up. He didn't know one is supposed to leave it unbuttoned, and was too proud to admit it. So he fobbed me off with "I like it this way". So he was going to go around with a suit coat that looked too tight, and it wasn't the tailor's fault.

[PatSeg]

35. Oh, it doesn't bother me that it is unbottoned

It is that suit jackets the past few years have gotten tighter and shorter and it reveals too much of the shirt and the bottom of the tie. That looks fine with a vest underneath or when men's pants had a higher waist, but now it often looks ill-fitting. It is just such an odd look when jackets get tighter and shorter, while the waist gets lower.

[Aristus]

37. I agree.

I supposed there are those who think a suit is just kind of stodgy, and try to juice up the basic coat-(sometimes vest)-trousers look with radical cuts and styles.

My own personal policy is to get classic cuts, fits, colors, and styles, and then dress it up or down with accessories. Shirts in a selection of colors and patterns (plain white is timeless, but so boring!), suspenders, pocket silks, lapel pins, even footwear. I can dress a suit down by wearing suede boots with it, instead of lace-up oxfords. A simple, plain, light-gray suit can be the canvas on which one paints hundreds of variations with pastel shirt-and-tie combinations, etc.

[PatSeg]

39. Oh yes, I love how you think!

Have to love it when a man takes an interest in his appearance. There was a time when people tended to overdress for everything which could be tiresome. Now it has gone the extreme opposite and people often dress the same to go to a nice restaurant as they do to go to Walmart (or to storm the Capitol it seems).




It would be nice if hats came back, but I know that is hoping for too much.



Of course, no one can top Cary Grant!

[Aristus]

43. Sometimes, I feel I was born in the wrong era.

I wouldn't be caught dead wearing an ascot, but otherwise, the whole Brideshead Revisited look is fantastic. The interwar years were amazing for men's clothing.

The only thing is, if I lived back then, I'd be expected to smoke. No way. Men may have looked good back then, but they must have smelled horrible from the constant smoking.

[PatSeg]

46. I think you may have been

My daughter says that quite often. Some of her biggest crushes are Cary Grant and Errol Flynn.

I agree about the ascot, but almost everything else is wonderful. I think smoking back then probably smelled more like tobacco, instead of the many chemicals they put in cigarettes today. Meanwhile, you could always carry around a pipe, but never light it.

Yes that was an amazing era for men's clothing. There are been quite a few real disasters since - skinny lapels and ties of the sixties and the seventies, well they were just embarrassing when nothing was too loud or outrageous.

This was fun. Have a good night!

[Aristus]

47. Good night.

Thank you for adding to my thread.

[PatSeg]

48. Oh, you are very welcome

What a great topic!

[Paladin]

60. When was the last time you saw "Chariots of Fire"?

It was on a few days ago---my God, all the elegant suits those actors got to wear, portraying well-to-do Oxford students in the 1920's. God knows what the movie producers had to fork over, to get that sort of flawless look for so many young men. It made present-day menswear look shabby, by comparison.

[Aristus]

72. I watch it a couple of times a year.

The scene in which the Oxford students are selecting their electives is clothing porn...

[Paladin]

80. "Clothing porn." Couldn't agree more. (nt)

[jcboon]

54. This is good stuff

People look great in suits --men and women. As a woman in business, I wore suits because you don't have to work so hard to look professional.

[Blue_true]

69. I button the bottom button and I am ok. My shoulders require the

most attention because their breath is much bigger than my waist, so not having the top of the jacket tight is most important to me.

[Aristus]

74. The point is, buttoning the bottom button ruins the drape of the fabric.

The suit coat is tailored under the assumption that the bottom button will remain unbuttoned, so buttoning it will pull the fabric too tight and it won't look or feel right.

[Blue_true]

81. Yes, I know. But there is a part of me that will never be civilized.

[WyLoochka]

76. Glad to not be the only one

Suits worn during the past few years looked too small.

The front was a bad view too! There's a gap just above the waste extending to the bottom button - with the button fastened. Awful.

I always wondered how the grown man in a 12 year old's suit "look" caught on.

Hope it's going away, no matter the number of buttons.

[msfiddlestix]

20. Didn't notice the buttons, but I have noticed the pin stripes and love the three point hanky

Looks great to my eye.

Oh hell, Joe looked great in his blue jeans and Presidential parker on Valentine's day.

I have to admit, I really do love the sunglasses. Yeppers.

[PatSeg]

22. Oh yes, didn't he though?

That is one sharp dresser. What a contrast to his sloppy predecessor.

[msfiddlestix]

27. I'm not much of a fashionista, I certainly don't wear them well

But can't lie about how much I appreciate when our Presidents come out looking dapper!

[PatSeg]

28. Same here

Our President is in the public eye every day and the whole world is watching. He is a reflection on us. Trump was such an embarrassment.

[Aristus]

32. One of the reasons the pocket silk makes such a great accessory,

is that there are a million ways to wear one. Points up, the way Joe has it, is one. (It's never been my favorite. It reveals the seams in the fabric, which just bothers me for some reason.)

The Presidential fold, that thin, straight-edged fold just peeking out of the breast pocket. Real Mad Men style. I use this one for black tie events and such.

Usually, for less formal occasions, I just stuff the silk into my pocket and kind of floof it out into a kind of crescent shape.

I must have twenty of the damned things; every color and pattern you can imagine.

[Aristus]

45. I used to sell men's clothing.

We called them pocket silks.

[msfiddlestix]

62. when noticed Joe's pocket silk, the three point sort of rang an old bell in my head....

but I can't quite place it. I feel like it might be from old films dating back to the 30's... scenes of fancy dance and formal attire, maybe Fred Astaire?? Something that fits with pin stripes. back in the day even before my time..

[Bucky]

24. I just thank God it's not tan. That would signal the end of civilization.

[fierywoman]

25. Joe can actually button the suit jacket. And his waist nips in a bit. Personally I also

love his interesting choice of ties and the breast pocket handkerchief. And he doesn't have "46" embroidered on the shirt cuffs.

[leftyladyfrommo]

26. I am old fashioned. I think men in nice suits are sexy. nt

[Patterson]

29. What's on the front of Joe's suit? It looks like he unloaded a UPS truck.

[Aristus]

31. Are you sure it's not steam from the hot coffee?

n/t

[Catherine Vincent]

49. I couldn't figure out what that was either

That coffee must be hot...McDonald's hot!

[FSogol]

51. Robotic Hydraulic Fluid

of course, it could just be steam.

[Blue_true]

70. It's the steam from the coffee and light effect. He is dressed impressively. nt

[Blue_true]

71. Pinstripes where the strips meet properly.

I can always tell a cheap suit when it is pinstripe, takes a second.

[Paladin]

44. I'm in favor of suits that cover up the bottoms of ties, like they used to.

I despise the current style with too-short jackets, too-skinny legs, and those goddamned tie ends, hanging out for all to see.

[Tracer]

52. My dad was a very careful dresser.

Custom made suits, always wearing his fedora. He also wore some kind of elastic clip thing to keep his socks neatly up. What were they called?

[Aristus]

53. Sock garters.

They were pretty common before elastic socks became cheap and affordable. They look ludicrous on a bare leg, but showing a bit of calf under a trouser leg from droopy socks was a fashion faux pas back in the day...

[jcboon]

55. Socks worn with a dinner jacket used to require garters

[Aristus]

57. That's because the socks worn with a dinner jacket were usually required to be silk.

Silk slides down the leg too easily, hence the need for sock garters.

Now they make silk evening-wear socks with elastic tops instead. Even I don't wear silk socks with my black tie ensemble, just standard black wool socks.

Seattle is kind of a strange town. When I go to the opera or the ballet, I see people dressed in everything from black tie to track suits. We're a pretty casual city, all things considered.

I once saw a guy wearing an incredibly well-tailored evening suit, pleated-front shirt, cufflinks and studs; fantastic. And he was wearing ratty black loafers. I couldn't believe he put that much effort into his outfit, and failed so hard on the shoes.

[jcboon]

56. While we're on the topic of clothes..

Does anyone remember that morning coats were required to appear at the Supreme Court?
My father had to wear one to Virginia's Supreme Court of Appeals. I think he rented it.

[Aristus]

58. Morning dress - formal wear for daytime, is one of those things that I don't think is

going to make a comeback. Cutaway coat, striped trousers, silk hat, spats. Great stuff, but there's no place to wear that anymore...

[Raine]

59. Very good looking suit

I love it when people dress nicely!

[Pacifist Patriot]

64. Proud to be shallow

I am loving the simple classic elegance of the Biden-Harris administration. POTUS, FLOTUS, VPOTUS, and FGOTUS, are sartorially nailing it for me.

[leighbythesea2]

73. Joe looks great!

Love the pinstripe, especially. He always looks sharp and it's such a relief.

Tom Ford is near the top of my favorite designers, may be the top. He has a meidas touch. Karl Lagerfeld did too.

Tom wore a suit to school at some point in his K-12 education, and from that day on, never stopped. He has a belief system that is--people are seeing you as part of their visual panorama in public, so he wants to not diminish it. Like his small part is just--add--don't detract. I love it. It's kind of old-fashioned like "get dressed" if you are going out.
Joe and Jill look great always.

[whistler162]

77. THink I will wait for the Zoot Suit

[DenaliDemocrat]

79. I hope so, those "skinny suits" are horrendous

I am former wrestler/linebacker and still have a large build and an heavily muscled. Those tight-fitting suits are horrible fitting things