From left: Colman Domingo, Dan Levy and Simu Liu look dapper and cool on the red carpet wearing double breasted suits. Photo composite: The New York Times, Reuters
Double-breasted suit jackets are rising in popularity – especially if you consider their appearance on the red carpet.
This style, with an overlapping front design with two sets of buttons, is generally considered to be more classic and traditional.
Unlike their single-breasted counterpart (which has a narrow overlap and only one column of buttons), such jackets can veer into looking old-fashioned. The boxy appearance is reminiscent of the 1930s and 40s, the decades when a lot of men wore double- breasted suits.
Yet, designers have managed to tweak the style to give it a fresher feel.
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At this year’s Met Gala, there were several double-breasted jackets spotted on the red carpet.
Actors Dan Levy and Jonathan Bailey wore Loewe suits, but they looked far from being stuffy and traditional. The designs were embellished appropriately to fit the night’s botanical theme.
Levy’s had a trippy effect: visually, the floral pattern was seen fading into darkness. As for Bailey, he flaunted a major floral embellishment in place of a bow tie.
Jonathan Bailey wears a double-breasted jacket with floral embellishments. Photo: AFP
Suga performs in a double-breasted suit specially designed for him. Photo: Valentino
At the Oscars, double breasted suits were also a firm favourite.
Actor Colman Domingo looked elegant in a custom Louis Vuitton double-breasted tuxedo with crystal buttons and gold-tipped cowboy boots.
As for actor Simu Liu, his Fendi suit was a little different. Instead of buttons, the more casual, soft-draped design was cleverly fastened to one side using a sparkly brooch.
Their peers like Ke Huy Quan, Dominic Sessa, Bradley Cooper and Teo Yoo (otherwise known as Kim Chi-hun) all looked dapper in double-breasted suits too.
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Last year, Suga of K-pop boyband BTS wore a Valentino double-breasted design on stage. He was performing on the last day of his solo D-Day tour.
The outfit was custom made by the then creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli.
All these indicate that what is considered old is now young again.
This is not to say that single-breasted jackets are going out of style, but it certainly shows that men can appear suave wearing a double-breasted suit – and still look low-key cool.
