Buttons on the sleeves of men's suit jackets serve practical and decorative needs. Jackets sleeve buttons that open and close mainly evoke status.
Centuries of Use
Buttons on suit jacket sleeves can be viewed, alternately, as a blessing or a curse. Men who dress meticulously prefer suit jackets with functioning buttons at the cuff. But the suits most men wear have buttons on the sleeves that are purely decorative.
Form Over Function
The Manhattan-based custom tailor and menswear historian Alan Flusser traces suit sleeve buttons as far back as 225 years ago, to the reign of Prussia's Frederick the Great. The buttons would "encourage (soldiers) to use their shirt cuffs instead of jackets sleeves as handkerchiefs," Flusser wrote. Many modern menswear dictates are rooted in military decorum and convenience.
Buttons' Appeal Lost
When mass-production practices took hold in the 20th century, jackets with functioning buttons on the sleeves fell out of favor. They were once known widely as "surgeon's cuffs" that could be unbuttoned and rolled up so doctors could wash up as high as their wrists.
Poking Holes in Functioning Buttons
Jackets with functioning buttons on the sleeves come at a price. Tailors say they present problems when it comes to alterations.
Nip-and-Tuck Nightmare
Having a jacket tucked in at the shoulders could raise the sleeve buttons too high. Shortening jacket sleeves at the cuff drops the buttons too low. If there's any advantage to jackets with buttons that don't open and close, it's that they're easily replaced.