I'm new to suits - so answer me this...

[Jerekson]

Okay, since my interest in suits is just beginning to fire up, I'm being bothered by a simple question.


Why is it, that double-breasted suits and peaked lapels come hand-in-hand?


Personally, I love the look of a single breasted with peaked lapels. I know that many other people do, as well.

And also let me point out that I have never seen a DB suit with notched lapels.

Jerekson

 

[Hemingway Jones]

DB suits do exist with notched lapels though they are a rarity. I have seen them at MyCustomTailor and, of course, in old films.

I think that notched lapels go with a DB because the lapels give a more dramatic look to balance the bulk that is added by two layers of fabric being added to one's torso inherent in the design of a double breasted. I also think, the wider the lapel, the better -within reason- for this very purpose.

I am sure (cough - Marc) that some one (cough - March) will come up with a photo of a DB suit with notched lapels.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

In the 1800s, not so rare. By the 1930s, very rare indeed.


I've only seen one golden era (1940s) DB jacket with notched lapels, and it was unbelievably strange: extremely tight at the hips, and had mutton chop sleeves with an outerseam. (Yes, you read that right.)


.

 

[herringbonekid]

And also let me point out that I have never seen a DB suit with notched lapels.

http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/

 

[Orgetorix]

I believe it has to do with the history of the garment. While SB jackets are descended from riding clothes that Englishmen would wear in the country, DBs are descended from military uniforms that had peaked lapels.

For today's world (including the Golden Era), double-breasted jackets are considered more formal than single-breasted ones, and peak lapels more formal than notch lapels. Hence, the DBPL and SBNL are the most common styles around. Why the single-breasted peak lapel is acceptable and stylish, but the double-breasted notch lapel isn't, I guess I don't know.

 

[slicedbread]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...MEWA:IT&viewitem=&item=150114767666&rd=1&rd=1

eek, not my favorite look

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Saw this one. A '50s custom job. That tailor was expensive in his time.

.

 

[Orgetorix]

That seller's photos get on my nerves. :rage:

 

[StanleyVanBuren]

That seller's photos get on my nerves. :rage:

Me too! I was wondering if anyone else had noticed those. This guy sure does sell a lot on eBay. Has anyone bought from him?

 

[slicedbread]

he's fairly overpriced and i too HATE his photos...

 

[Jovan]

I think that notched lapels go with a DB because the lapels give a more dramatic look to balance the bulk that is added by two layers of fabric being added to one's torso inherent in the design of a double breasted.

... you meant peak, right?

The guy on The Sartorialist actually looks pretty good in it, but his trousers are going past where his heel meets the sole of his shoe. Yuck. I wouldn't wear the notched DB myself.

 

[Senator Jack]

I've posted turn-of-the-century pics of the the militaristic notched DB lapel before. Can't seem to find the thread now. Both the peak and notchdescended from the military (Notch was a naval thing, yes?), and I can't figure out why everyone repeats, ad nauseum, that the notch is somehow a bastardization of the style.

 

[Matt Deckard]

Sort of goes hand in hand with the idea of the jacket being made to close all the way up. If you take a single breasted jacket and flip up the collar and overlap the lapels the lapel button hole goes where a lapel button would be to close the jacket.

With the Double Breasted, if you close the lapels and flip up the collar the peaks cross over either side of the throat and again there would be a button under where the lapel button hole rests. Watch the Prisoner of Zenda and you will see how their double breasted uniforms have peak lapels when unbuttoned.