A Button Too Far

Several buttons too far actually. Not content with the decoration provided by his cuff, Yann Debelle de Montby of Berluti has five buttons on his jacket sleeve, and leaves three of them open. I think this crosses the line separating venial sins from mortal ones.

Aside from the unforgiveable, his look would be fairly classic. I can forgive the silver headed cane in a man who is obviously trying too hard and his combination of blue suit, white shirt and silver tie is one of my personal favorites - I wore a navy suit and silver blue twill necktie yesterday with a shirt that had a gray twill body and white collar and cuffs.

I wonder if he has met Snoop Dogg.

Labels and Logos

I tried on a pair of Mephisto walking shoes once. They were very comfortable and I took a closer look. That was as far as it got. There on the side of the shoe was a label with the maker's name. On the outside of the shoe, mind you. Just look on the heel on the right side of the photo.

So let's get one thing straight right off the bat. As far as I'm concerned, external labels of the sort found on certain brands of shoes and hats are not venial sins. They're mortal. Unforgiveable, you'll-never-lunch-at-the-Four-Seasons-again class sins. The venial sort is the alligator or polo player logo on polo shirt type, like the one on Ralph Lauren's shirt in the photo below.


Now, in tolerating these I'm probably being generous, as those little icons were the first step down the road to the man-as-walking-billboard wear we see around us today. And I need to be clear that I don't possess a single one of those logo'd shirts so I hold the moral high high ground in any debate. But I consider them a minor sin. After all, if I took them more seriously I'd never find anyone to play golf with.

Don't even get me started on those neckties with the maker's logo woven in.

One Venial Sin

On the list of mortal sartorial sins the unsightly flash of bare leg between trouser bottom and socks is always near the top. Belt buckle bulge under a vest is high on the list as well, along with matching necktie and pocket square sets. But what of the smaller sins? This essay begins an occasional series on venial, or forgivable, transgressions.

One sin that I've never understood is the practice of leaving one or even two of one's jacket sleeve buttons unbuttoned in order to show the world that they really work. Of course, this has the opposite effect. Men who see those sloppy sleeves justifiably wonder whether the wearer has a closet full of jackets with buttons that are just sewn on.

When struck by the urge to undo a jacket sleeve button, walk quickly to a large public men's room. Unbutton and roll up your sleeves and wash your hands. Then dry your hands and button the sleeves again. You'll demonstrate that your sleeve buttons work to many men without embarrassing yourself and after a few repetitions the urges will cease.