The New York Times reports on an issue of vital public concern: what’s up with the “second button”? You know, as Jerry Seinfeld complained, it’s often just not right. It’s either too high (stuffy nerdyness) or too low (the Fabio factor, i.e. male cleavage). It is a vexing situation. Here are some excerpts from the story:
Pants can be hemmed, shirts can be darted. But the way buttons are spaced down the front of a shirt — known in the industry as “stance” — is forever. Frustration with poor button stance is so universal, even Jerry Seinfeld talked about it with George in the final episode of his series. “The second button is the key button,” he said. “It literally makes or breaks the shirt.”
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Tim Gunn of “Project Runway” finds it exasperating. “It’s a very fundamental issue, but we’re so accepting of it,” he said. “I’m surprised there’s been no fashion outcry.”
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Why haven’t shirtmakers established a golden mean?
European makers tend to separate church and state: there are shirts to be worn with ties, and there are sports shirts. Here, where the line is blurred, we see incompatible high and low stances.
Another factor, Mr. Bastian suggested, may be that some manufacturers are working off old patterns, from a time when men always wore ties.
Fortunately, as Mr. Fazio notes, the market is moving toward a hybrid button stance. Brooks Brothers, J. Crew and Bergdorf Goodman’s private label, for example, all place the second button at 3 1/2 inches. Todd Snyder, the men’s design director at J. Crew, said it had revamped its shirt model and found that this measurement gives the most versatility.
Well, perhaps there is hope.
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