Double-breasted Jackets: Where did they go, and are they coming back?

Those of you who remember the 80s will recall that double-breasted suits and jackets reappeared around 1980 – 81, first with very narrow lapels and then with wider lapels such that by the end of the decade, double-breasted suits were roomy, lapels were a good four inches wide, the peaks were pointed and the jackets buttoned fairly low. Then, they were gone and have not reappeared, at least not often, since then, apart from some die-hards.

The reasons? First, double-breasted jackets are hard to make. Get the balance off, and they look really odd, so for the RTW market the loose, rather baggy Armani jackets worked well as RTW, because they tended to fit easily. A well-cut, relatively tight-fitting DB is almost impossible with RTW. A badly fitting double-breasted looks pretty bad, worse then a poorly cut single-breasted.

Second, they use a lot of fabric, so manufacturers trying to keep their costs down probably figured that double-breasted jackets were losing money. Third, you have to wear a double-breasted closed. You let it hang open, the way you can with a single-breasted; you have to keep it buttoned up, so it is not really useful as a casual jacket. They are also a little difficult to sit in – you can’t keep unbuttoning and rebuttoning them.

Fourth, and perhaps most important, the double-breasted looks serious – this is the suit that means business and formality. Like it or not, you can’t argue so easily with somebody in a double-breasted suit. Bankers might find them useful when lecturing clients on their overdrafts and solvency problems; they help gangsters strike fear into the hearts of merchants who refuse to pay for protection and lawyers can berate witnesses confidently from behind a double-breasted front.

So there we have four reasons or for possible causes for why they more or less disappeared. Will they come back? Almost certainly, because every man reaches a point in his life where he wants to cut his way through the crowd, lay down the law and generally put his chest out. 

The first step to bringing back the double-breasted to where it does what it should is to get rid of most of what is available in the market today. This, for example, is unlikely to create or revive a fashion trend.

The first step is design. You can get a four by two, like the one below:

Four buttons, two at the top, spread wide, and four lower down. It buttons at the natural waist (two sets of two, the upper one buttoned).

This sort of jacket works very well if you have a waist – a convex waist, that is. It does not exaggerate your height; in fact, if you are very tall and on the thin side, it will give you a nice bulked-up look.

Choose the right style for your height and width. If you are a little on the wider side, go for the four by two, which will, somewhat miraculously, slim you down.

The second thing about the double-breasted is the lapels. Take a look at this:

The designer has missed an opportunity: the lapels are a little too high, and a little two narrow. They need some belly and a bit of shape to them. How about these as an alternative? Nice strong lapels, and they have the right balance to them. The shoulders and lapels go together.

For double-breasted jackets to make a genuine comeback, they have to be the right length. This one is just right – long enough, but not dragging on the floor. So length, shoulders, lapels all go together. And, the shoulders have to be a little wider than your natural shoulders. Otherwise, you look like a pencil and your shoulders disappear behind the lapels. Finally, the chest has to be well sculpted and cut with a drape.

And there we have the problem – you can’t really make ready-to-wear double-breasted jackets and suits. This leaves bespoke as the only option. And what’s wrong with that? If you really want to make your clothes work for you, you will spend a bit extra to have something that really cuts through the fog of convention and presents you as you should be presented, get hold of a decent tailor and go to work.

By now you should have guessed where we are going with this. So here’s a dare: Google “mens double breasted suits” and see if there are any that look quite like what AskOkey has to offer. While doing so, keep in mind that the men wearing the suits in the pictures are for the most part of standard model dimensions, and are young and fit, and the photos are staged. Another reason not to trust RTW. For those of us who need our clothes to do some of the work when we make an impression, there is really only one place to go.