Thread by @dieworkwear

one of the worst trends in men's tailoring in the last twenty years is how the buttoning point—the center button on a three button coat or the top button on a two button coat—has gotten pushed up over the years. you see this on desantis vs biden. 🧵

when a bespoke tailor makes a coat, they place the buttoning point near the waist (the slimmest portion of your torso). this does a two things.

1. it allows them to create more waist supression, giving you that flattering V-shaped silhouette.

2. it creates a nice balance between the upper and lower halves of the coat. the buttoning point serves as the visual fulcrum for the jacket. it's the point from which the lapels bloom and the quarters sweep out.

in the last 20 years, buttoning points have crept up. this is because the jackets themselves are shorter. when the jacket is short, the buttoning point has to be high, so there's proper distance from buttoning point to hem. but this looks unflattering

raising the buttoning point shortens the lapel line and makes the lapels look stumpy. it reduces the amount of waist suppression possible. in many cases, it can also make the wearer look like they have a beer gut.

in some rare instances, tailors have lowered the buttoning point. this elongates the lape line and gives the jacket a more louche, slouchy effect. however, to do this, you often need a longer jacket to preserve distance from buttoning point to hem.

in modern day tailoring, Kotaro Miyahira, founder and cutter behind Sartoria Corcos in Florence, Italy, does this sort of style. you can see here how the buttoning point is about a centimenter lower than the waist, elongating the lapel line and giving a slouchier look

the combination of a short jacket, high buttoning point, and low rise trousers does something else: they reveal the shirt fabric and waistband below the coat's buttoning point, ruining the harmony between coat and pants.

in tailoring, measurements as small as 1 cm are everything

if you already own suits like this, better to wear the jacket open. however, if you're shopping for something new, try to get

1) a jacket that ends about halfway from your collar to the floor when you're wearing heeled shoes.

2) trouser rise that's high enough to hide shirt fabric below your coat's buttoning point when it's fastened

3) and a coat that has a buttoning point at your natural waist, so you can get that longer lapel line and waist suppression.