Many style guides for men’s wear will tell you never to use the bottom button on your suit. It is simply not done. I heard the rule as a young man when I wore a suit for the first time and mentions of it many times since.
But why? Here’s the answer:
“The tradition originated with King Edward VII, who unbuttoned his vest because he was growing too large for it. The British court stopped buttoning their bottom buttons out of respect for the king, and the practice spread to the rest of England and British colonies.”
So: Back in the day a fat man couldn’t fully button his suit. Instead of treating it as a tailoring problem—alter the suit to accommodate his belly—he simply unbuttons. Then other men, who can fully buttoned their suits, imitate the fat man. Other men then imitate the imitators. Now, over a century later, men everywhere are leaving the bottom button unused—and urging other men to do the same.
(Further: those who appear with the bottom button actually buttoned can be subject to mockery: “Ha ha, Rodnick, don’t you know you’re not supposed to use the bottom button, you uncultured clod.”)
There’s a lesson in there about tradition, social contagion, and conformism.
The question should be: Does the suit look and work better with the bottom button open or closed? The answer is: Sometimes open, and sometimes closed.
The practice should not be: Let’s all ape other men who are aping other men who are slavishly copying another man who got too fat for his suit.
Fashion designers and skilled tailors can make and customize suits any way they judge best, including the placement of buttons. And each man can decide for themselves how to wear his suit, depending on his personal aesthetic and the particular activities he is engaging in. We should each take control of our own button choices.
Let’s break the spell that King Edward VII’s bulging belly cast over all men.