The Hardest Button to Button

December 6, 2006 9:43 AM

4-button, single-breasted suit. Job interview. Which buttons get buttoned?
posted by sonofslim to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (25 answers total)

2 and 3 (from the top), possibly 1. Never 4.
posted by spacewrench at 9:45 AM on December 6, 2006

Best answer: Yep. 1-2-3 buttoned if the lapel ends above the buttonhole (true 4), 2-3 buttoned if the lapel ends below it (4-roll-3). 4-button is pretty fashion-forward for some industries, note.
posted by mendel at 9:48 AM on December 6, 2006 [1 favorite]

And when you sit down, unbutton them all.
posted by bingo at 9:52 AM on December 6, 2006

I always did 1 and 2. Sometimes 3. Never 4.

I wore 4-button suits for years when I worked as a consultant in Manhattan. Not buttoning 1 looks kind of sloppy to me (personal preference ) but I think buttoning the middle two is fine.

Even though this was 10 years ago for me, 4-button suits never became mainstream and are still considered a bit "stylish"
posted by vacapinta at 9:59 AM on December 6, 2006

What mendel said. 1 depending on where the button sits w/r/t the lapel; 2-3 always; 4 never.
posted by holgate at 10:10 AM on December 6, 2006

agree with spacewrench
posted by krudiger at 10:17 AM on December 6, 2006

I say button none of them or only the top 1. I think the buttoned-up look can be too formal.
posted by mattbucher at 10:42 AM on December 6, 2006

Another vote for none.
posted by neilkod at 11:19 AM on December 6, 2006

None, especially on a 4 button, will make it look like you seldom wear suits and are uncomfortable/ill at ease in one. That may be A. true, and B. the message you're trying to send (based on the industry, I suppose), but it's something you should be aware of.
posted by jalexei at 11:54 AM on December 6, 2006

None. They are all just for show.
posted by Doohickie at 12:04 PM on December 6, 2006

Response by poster: oh no, my interview is at a 3-hole paper punch factory! [sad trombone noise] gonna have to go with mendel on this one, i like having a definite rule for my suit heuristics.
posted by sonofslim at 12:31 PM on December 6, 2006

Usually none in casual situations. In more formal matters, which would include most interviews, follow mendel and bingo's advice. As for fashion forward, I don't know. They were big in the sixties and people keep trying to bring them back, I guess you have to do something different to move fashion along, but they never quite seem to catch on. They certainly are not power suits. However, please don't take my comment to mean that there is anything wrong with wearing such a suit to an interview.
posted by caddis at 1:43 PM on December 6, 2006

I have never buttoned my suit for an interview; the only time I have is for publicity shots (which will hopefully never see the light of day!).

I suppose it varies by industry, and even by person, but none of my interviewers have ever (so far as I recall) buttoned their suit jackets either.

If you are going to button up I'd just do the top 2 and unbutton when you sit down.

Don't stress about it - it's hardly likely to be make or break for the interview.
posted by Rc at 2:18 PM on December 6, 2006

You really should never wear a suit with more then three buttons. It's just wrong.

Ones jacket should be button when standing, and not when sitting. I'm constantly amazed at how badly people dress.
posted by oxford blue at 2:29 PM on December 6, 2006

Present company excluded from that remark (I hope.)
posted by oxford blue at 2:29 PM on December 6, 2006

unbutton them *all* when sitting? surely all but the top.
posted by boo_radley at 2:44 PM on December 6, 2006

Well, I don't know what to do with a 4 button suit, but for the two buttoned that I wear, I button one or two while standing, but unbutton while sitting.

If you don't unbutton while sitting, at least in the suits I've worn, the area around the chest looks all weird and puffed up.

IMO, of course.

But I've noticed that some people obsessively button/unbutton when transitioning from standing/sitting. That behavior looks fidgety, and I try to avoid it.

In general, I'd say stay unbuttoned, unless you know you will be standing for some time. In my case, when I was giving a talk, I would always be buttoned...
posted by gregvr at 3:07 PM on December 6, 2006

Upon entrance, N-1 buttons should be buttoned, with N being athe number of buttons and the sole unbuttoned button being the last on the bottom. As you seat yourself, unbutton all your jacket buttons, and leave them unbuttoned until you exit the premisis. Then it's time to wear something other than your work disguise. And yes, I do wear a suit for work most days.
posted by NortonDC at 3:19 PM on December 6, 2006

egad.
posted by boo_radley at 4:09 PM on December 6, 2006

Response by poster: at the risk of piggybacking my own question, what's wrong with 4 buttons? what makes a suit a "power suit" or not?

fwiw, i'm a pretty skinny guy, which i understand goes well with a lot of buttons. plus the estimable gents at moe ginsburg put me in this suit, so i trust its provenance.
posted by sonofslim at 4:33 PM on December 6, 2006

Middle two or top three. All four? Eh, I don't know. If you have stick legs or are OCD then go ahead.
posted by nj_subgenius at 5:01 PM on December 6, 2006

at the risk of piggybacking my own question, what's wrong with 4 buttons?

It's just not traditional. Over a century of thought has gone into how to most aesthetically organize a suit, and in recent decades, the design has mostly dealt with two and three-button models. You can have four buttons, you can have five, but that suit probably will have a basic structure and design that's really made for two or three. It's like saying, why not put three vents on the jacket instead of zero, one, or two? Well, you can, but you have to design the rest of the jacket around it. And chances are, you didn't. Chances are, what you're dealing with is just a novelty item that really doesn't constitute good design.

Also, it's going to be a pain to button and unbutton whenever you sit down and stand up.

But here's the main thing. If you're worried about meeting, in your interview, the type of person who knows the answer to this question and cares whether you get it right, then you need to wear a two or three button jacket to the interview. That's it.
posted by bingo at 6:35 PM on December 6, 2006

Response by poster: bingo: good point about the history of the suit, i did not realize that 4 buttons was unorthodox.

thanks for everyone's input. luckily, my interview was not at Amalgamated Dandy Fop Concern, so i think it was ok.
posted by sonofslim at 8:31 PM on December 6, 2006

I actually own a jacket with only one button. Wearing it makes me feel like Paddington Bear. In a good way.
posted by bingo at 7:54 AM on December 7, 2006 [1 favorite]

Amalgamated Dandy Fop Concern

Classy; ask for help, and then mock those that do.

There is, my dear friend, a reason why you hear the sound of snickering where ever you go.
posted by oxford blue at 2:34 PM on December 7, 2006