Why do some men wear double-breasted suits?

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  • #607294
    just my hapence
    Participant

    There are a couple of threads debating top buttons as if it was some kind of halachic or kabbalistic inyan. The fact is, some people do the top button up and some don’t. Some people think done up is smarter, some think undone is. What’s the big issue? We may as well discuss wearing different cuts of suits as if it contained some kind of soid…

    #911427
    akuperma
    Participant

    Currently “double breasted” is moderately out of style in western countries, meaning only a handful of “well dressed” men wear double breasted suits (e.g. the Prince of Wales, the Emperor of Japan – but not the Presidents of the United States or the Russian Federation). This changes frequently. As late as the 1980s they were definitely “in” on Wall Street and the “brown shoe law firms.”

    Double-breasted blazers are still worn, and they are often part of full dress military uniforms (particularly of the navy). Heavy winter coats are more likely than not to be double-breasted. Note that this paragraph refers exclusivly to goyim. While we don’t copy them, we are influenced by them, albeit very slowly. By the time “double breasted” goes out of style among Yidden, it will probably be coming back into style among goyim.

    In general, double-breasted is fancier and more formal, and Yidden tend to be very conservative. Among those of us wearing various versions of “frock” coats (Kapotes, Beckeshes, Rekels, etc.), the norm is double-breasted (intersting, in the situation where goyim still wear long coats, single breasted with a vest is the norm).

    #911428
    OneOfMany
    Participant

    Agreed…

    #911429
    artchill
    Participant

    To cover their stomachs. There’s more wiggle room in double breasted suits!

    #911430
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    Perhaps they simply like the style?

    The Wolf

    #911431
    takahmamash
    Participant

    Why wear a suit at all?

    #911432
    WIY
    Member

    just my hapence

    Chassidim (as a whole) don’t do things out of a fashion sense. There is always a reason be it Halacha, Kabbalah or Hashkafa.

    #911433
    just my hapence
    Participant

    You see, this is the whole point! I plucked double-breasted suits off the top of my head. I very nearly wrote single-breasted. And yet people are debating, quite seriously, why double-breasted suits are better, or worse, or if there is some kind of inyan.

    #911434
    akuperma
    Participant

    just my hapence: Frum Jews take fashion very seriously. We have to follow multiple dress codes (our own community, and the goyish world), while trying to dress comfortably and affordably, and have to be careful what message to send to the very diverse communities we deal with (both Jewish and goyish, and often multiple flavors of both).

    #911435
    yaakov doe
    Participant

    Why not?

    #911436
    147
    Participant

    The bottom line is, that each & every time I arise for the Amidah, I always close the button on my jacket, because there is considered Kovodik, so what better time to dress at the absolute most Kovodik, than when addressing the Ribbono Shel Olom. The Amidah is surely more important than for attending an interview.

    Needless to say, I also close the button on my jacket for other very formal occasions, like lighting Chanukiyah, holding Arba Minim, arsing for the 10 commandments & the Shirah.

    By Kiddush it doesn’t work out, as I have to sit down to drink the wine, and for Tekias Shofor this is a mute point, as I am wearing my Kittel.

    #911437
    just my hapence
    Participant

    akuperma – You might be taking it seriously, but you’d have been just as serious about discussing orange socks, had I chosen that. The point is my choice was entirely arbitrary and yet you are having a serious discussion about the religious values of something I thought up for no reason. There are other reasons besides fashion or halocho/hashkofo. For instance, practicality or comfort or simply that you like those clothes.

    #911438
    agittayid
    Participant

    The significance of wearing a single or double breasted suit pales in comparison to whether one turns his hat brim up or down. There is a lot to be learned by observing how one wears his hat. But these things are trifles compared to whether one wears button down shirts or not. As to short sleeve shirts, well that’s another story altogether.

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