The Evolution of the Suit
Why the business suit includes cuffs, buttons, vents and a tie.
by Rita Gworek

The military is big on tradition in both clothing and ceremony. Similar traditions can be found in the world of fashion – there are things we have just “always” done in a certain way.

Let’s look at some of the traditions of clothing and how they came into being.

1. Buttons
Why are there buttons on the sleeves of men’s suit coats? Napoleon admired the look of a uniform and he took great care in its creation. He wanted his men to wear it proudly. However, when the weather was cold he noticed the men were using their jacket sleeves to wipe their runny noses. This upset Napoleon and he ordered that all the uniforms were to have buttons sewn on their jacket sleeves. He hoped this would keep the men from wiping their noses. The tradition has carried on, and now men’s suit jackets have buttons on the side of the sleeve.

2. The Back Vent
Another tradition in men’s suiting is the back vent. It was placed there for men who rode horses; it allowed the jacket to open and lay on each side of the horse instead of riding up the man’s back.

3. Button-Down Collars
The world of horses is also responsible for button-down collars. When polo players were riding their horses, regular collared shirts would fly up into their faces. Their solution was to sew buttons on the ends of their collar to keep them down!

4. Cuffs
The tradition of placing cuffs on men’s pants started in England. When men dressed for church in their Sunday best, quite often they had to walk across muddy fields to get there. Since they wanted to look good, they would roll up the legs of their pants to keep them clean. Once they reached church they would roll them back down. The look caught on and the tradition still exists today.

5. The Tie
The long history of the tie goes back to the French cravat, a very fat scarf that protected a man’s shirt from getting dirty. During the 17th century, French cavalrymen adopted the Croatian horsemen’s small knotted neckerchiefs as part of their uniform. As Soldiers returned to civilian life they started a fashion craze. Soon all of Europe was wearing fancy lace “cravats.”

As the tie evolved toward its current appearance, schools such as Oxford University started using the tie as a symbol of their membership to certain schools and organizations. The ties they used look very similar to the ties that we use today. As turn-down collars became part of modern fashion in the 1920s, New York tie makers J. Langsdorf modified the look we have today:

The business suit has the same purpose as a military uniform. It is an indicator of authority and professionalism. The next time you put on a suit to go to work, remember that you should wear it with the same pride you would with any uniform.


© Copyright 2010, Rita Gworek is a presenter for the TAP/ACAP seminars on “Dressing for Success.” A master tailor, she is an image consultant in the Washington, D.C., area.