Altering Vintage DB Jacket to Single Breasted

[YETI]

I recently bought a 1940s pinstripe double breasted jacket at local thrift store intending to use it for trade credit. It fits around the shoulders and chest but not around my beer gut. I was considering rearranging the buttons and convert it to a single breasted jacket. Has this ever been done? I'm just afraid the lapel might be too wide and look funny as a single breasted.

 

[Miss Sis]

I think this would spoil the line of the jacket. Double breasted is cut differently to a single breasted.

I'd sell it on and look for something that fits rather than try to alter it.

 

[Feraud]

I believe Paddy has something that was similarly altered.

 

[YETI]

I believe Paddy has something that was similarly altered.

Did he post any pics of the jacket? Thanks

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Did he post any pics of the jacket?

Yes. They're in the following link. Paddy is the gent in the blue suit: http://207.218.231.242/~thefedor/showpost.php?p=789600&postcount=2


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[YETI]

Yes. They're in the following link. Paddy is the gent in the blue suit: http://207.218.231.242/~thefedor/showpost.php?p=789600&postcount=2


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Thanks Marc! Paddy's jacket doesn't look too shabby with the conversion. I know altering the design of suits wasn't too uncommon back then. I believe during the 50s young lads would narrow down the lapels of hand-me-down suits from the 40s just to fit in with their peers who could afford new suits. Many moons ago, I actually found a 40s brown pinstripe that was altered in that manner. The lapels were really narrow and I mean ratpack narrow. It was originally a db too. I just shook my head thinking what a waste of a perfectly good suit. It was really nice and it had English pleats too. Anyways, I just might move those buttons to see if I dig the look.

 

[benstephens]

I suppose it depends how particular you are and what you want to achieve. It can be done, and I suspect, if a good tailor is used, done quite well. As you can see on Paddy, it looks fine, and most people would not know it was once a DB suit.



Kindest Regards

Ben

 

[Mike in Seattle]

The big question is - WHY? You'll no doubt spend more on the cost of the jacket and the necessary alterations than just buying a single-breasted of similar look. Second - we all bemoan when a hat or other vintage item is "restyled" (aka destroyed) by a later owner. Some SlimFast, cutting out the beer and a gym membership might be the cheaper, and better alternative all the way around if you're deadset on keeping the jacket.

 

[YETI]

I suppose it depends how particular you are and what you want to achieve. It can be done, and I suspect, if a good tailor is used, done quite well. As you can see on Paddy, it looks fine, and most people would not know it was once a DB suit.



Kindest Regards

Ben

After seeing the pics of Paddy's jacket, I think I will give it a go. Actually, I'm only having the buttons removed and rearranged. Here's a pic of the jacket(dated 1946) in question.

 

[thunderw21]

Beautiful fabric.

 

[YETI]

It certainly is. It's a soft wool twill, but still heavy drape. If you look closely, there is a royal blue stripe between the quadruple stripes.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

And the collar's stripes meet well with the lapel's stripes. :eusa_clap


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[thunderw21]

It certainly is. It's a soft wool twill, but still heavy drape. If you look closely, there is a royal blue stripe between the quadruple stripes.

Fantastic! They don't make fabrics like they use to...

Are the buttons in line? The top buttons don't seem to spread out like they usually do on DB jackets. Maybe it's just the angle of the pic.

One more thing: was this a costum-made job? The lining isn't typical of OTR vintage jackets.

Good luck with the conversion.

 

[Orgetorix]

I'll be a lone voice of dissent here and say I think this alteration shouldn't be done. Paddy's a stylish gent, but this particular suit of his and the others I've seen done this way just don't look right. Not only are the lapels wider than I think is proper for the coat to be balanced, the major problem is with the quarters (the lower front corners, below the buttons/buttonholes). On a double-breasted jacket, the quarters are squared off. On a single-breasted jacket, they're rounded and cut away to one degree or another. A single-breasted jacket with square, closed quarters is just wrong--it's not classic, not elegant, and reminds one unpleasantly of something out of the International Male catalog (See illustration below).

Now, you could possibly have the lapels narrowed. And you could possibly have the quarters rounded off and maybe even opened a bit (though I'm unsure about that, given the placement of the bottom buttonhole). But if you altered this jacket so substantially, you'd be destroying a wonderful vintage garment forever. My advice would be to sell the jacket for whatever you can get for it, and save your money until you can buy something that fits the way it's supposed to.

Oh, and there's also the question of wearing a striped jacket without matching pants. Some here do it, but to me (and, I'd argue, in classic men's dress), a stripe like that is essentially and inescapably a suit pattern. Wearing it with odd trousers will not be able to hide the fact that it is what it is: an orphaned suit coat.

 

[BellyTank]

I'll be a lone voice of dissent here and say I think this alteration shouldn't be done. Paddy's a stylish gent, but this particular suit of his and the others I've seen done this way just don't look right. Not only are the lapels wider than I think is proper for the coat to be balanced, the major problem is with the quarters (the lower front corners, below the buttons/buttonholes.

I'm with you on that- not just the lapel problem but the buttoning height is all to hell.
Wide lapels and low buttoning does not work(forget about the sleeve length).
I look forward to seeing a conversion that works.


B
T

 

[YETI]

Fantastic! They don't make fabrics like they use to...

Are the buttons in line? The top buttons don't seem to spread out like they usually do on DB jackets. Maybe it's just the angle of the pic.

One more thing: was this a costum-made job? The lining isn't typical of OTR vintage jackets.

Good luck with the conversion.

I just noticed that too. The previous owner moved the buttons about 2 inches in as well as the inside button. As you can see from the pics the misalignment of the buttons. I think it's a custom jacket from the labels.

 

[YETI]

There May Be Hope!

Aside from the buttons being taken in around 2 inches, I took a gander behind the lining to see about 4 1/2 inches of allowance at the back seam. That gives about 5 1/2" to let out. I'll have to consult my tailor to see the possibilities.

 

[Tomasso]

I'll be a lone voice of dissent here and say I think this alteration shouldn't be done.

No! I'm Spartacus!

Seriously, I agree with Orgetorix, chapter and verse.

 

[tonyb]

Aside from the buttons being taken in around 2 inches, I took a gander behind the lining to see about 4 1/2 inches of allowance at the back seam. That gives about 5 1/2" to let out. I'll have to consult my tailor to see the possibilities.

Yea! Woohoo! Etc.

 

[YETI]

Yea! Woohoo! Etc.

Hey Tony! If things don't go as planned, you get first shot at the jacket.