Tie Space

Tie space has an influence on what we wear. Suits used to have three button fronts, and vests. Bow ties were much more popular than they are today, as they fit neatly into the smaller triangle of shirt left above a vested suit like the man on the right in the illustration. And then the vest died.


Without a vest, some keen eye observed that moving the button point from the top down to the middle button on a jacket did a better job of showing off the four in hand necktie. And so the two button suit and four in hand began a thirty year reign as the most popular design while only formal wear saved the bow tie from extinction.

But two button fronts are not necessarily the best choice when there's no tie to cover the shirt. And with fewer men wearing neckties, we're seeing a resurrection of higher closing fronts, with three and even four buttons. The late English designer Hardy Amies predicted this trend (the photos are of his designs) three decades ago. Like many geniuses he was a little early.