Why Are There Buttons on Suit Sleeves?

If you’ve ever worn a suit, then at some point or the other, you may have been curious about why there are buttons on suit sleeves.

This is particularly interesting when it comes to suits where the buttons don’t actually work – what’s the point of having them?

You’ll find that there are a few theories as to why the buttons exist, but there’s no definite reason. One theory – probably the most popular – is that back in the day, soldiers wearing suits would often dirty their sleeves because they would use their sleeves to, for example, wipe their noses or the sweat off their faces. Buttons were therefore added to discourage this practice.

These buttons, when functional, are referred to as working buttonholes, or as ‘surgeon cuffs’. Today, working buttonholes are a sort of status symbol that primarily serve a cosmetic purpose, although the function is still present. As off-the-rack suits typically have non-functional buttonholes, you can opt for surgeon cuffs when having a suit custom-tailored in order to stand out from the crowd. Click here for a brief summary on the history of surgeon cuffs.

If you’re looking to get a new suit, why not have it custom-made? You can get one made especially for you at an affordable price, and this allows you to customise the suit to reflect your personal tastes and styles. You can choose the fabric, the type of buttons, whether to have working sleeve buttonholes, etc. That’s the beauty of custom-tailored clothing.

While we have tailor stores in Bangkok, Phuket and Khao Lak, it’s still possible to order custom-tailored clothing online. All we require is your measurements, so we can meet you via a virtual consultation and guide you through measuring a well-fitting garment yourself in order to obtain your measurements. Alternatively, you can simply send us said well-fitting garment and we will return it to you along with your new custom-tailored suit(s).

So, what are you waiting for? In order to start the process of ordering your new custom-made suit(s), simply send us a message through the contact form below.