Three is the most traditional number of button for the front of a suit jacket or sports coat. Not all jackets with three buttons are created equal, and there are a few different ways the lapels can be cut and sewn to control the way the lapel rolls. The lapels may start above the top button, they may extend down to the middle button, or they could roll to somewhere between the top two buttons. Lapels can be pressed flat, they may have a gradual roll, or they may be somewhere between. Lapel roll can’t always be defined as one type or another, but most jackets with three buttons can be placed into one of three general categories.
Full Button Three
The full button three suit is today what is most associate with the 1990s, but it’s the oldest of the jacket buttoning styles that is still accepted today. In the early days of the modern lounge suit in the late 19th century, it was popularly worn alongside the button four jacket. By the 1930s, the button four had fallen out of favour and various types of button three jackets reigned king for decades.
In the full button three, all three buttons fully show on the front of the jacket no matter how the jacket is fastened, but the top button is fully able to fasten. The lapels on such a jacket roll or fold at or above top of the jacket’s three buttons. On well-made examples, the lapels have a gentle roll while on cheap fused examples the lapels are pressed flat. Canvas is needed in the lapels to give it a roll, while a fully-fused jacket cheaply made without any canvas cannot support a lapel roll. For this reason, some makers only sew canvas in the lapels and fuse the rest of the front. James Bond’s button three suits are always made with canvas in the lapels for a roll, and he never wears a button three jacket with the lapels folded flat.
Though the top button on the full button three is able to fasten, it does not need to be fastened. Both the top and middle buttons or only the middle button may be fastened—the bottom button is rarely designed to fasten. On fused examples where the lapels fold flat against the chest, the jacket looks best with both buttons fastened.
Though the full button three is out of favour today, it is still popular for English country wear. This popularity comes from both tradition and practicality. The English countryside is a cool place, and being able to fasten the top button provides extra protection from the weather.
James Bond first wears the full button three jacket in Diamonds Are Forever in Sean Connery’s brown herringbone and brown checked jackets. On these jackets the lapels gently roll to just above the top button, and Connery stylishly fastens only the middle button of both jackets. In the case of the herringbone jacket, leaving the top button open allows a henchman reaching inside for a gun to get his hand caught in a trap.
The full button three returned on two of Roger Moore’s Douglas Hayward three-piece suits in For Your Eyes Only and Octopussy. Their buttoning style is similar to Connery’s in Diamonds Are Forever, but the button stance is lower, and the buttons are placed closer together. Timothy Dalton later wears a navy chalk stripe suit in this style in The Living Daylights. Moore wears his suit jackets either fastened at the middle or not fastened at all, and Dalton never fastens his button three jacket.
Three-Roll-Two-and-a-Half
Many bespoke makers and high-end brands, from both Britain and the European continent, cut the lapels on their button three jackets to roll slightly over top button but not to obscure the top button. Knowing that most stylish men choose to button only the middle of their three buttons, this style gives the top button a reason to be left open while still maintaining the jacket’s button three identity. The internet has dubbed this style the “3-roll-2.5”.
This style got its name because the lapels roll down to somewhere from below the top button to halfway between the top and middle buttons, but “3-roll-2.5” is not a term to be taken literally. The lapels on such a cut will always have a gentle roll. Because the lapels rolls slightly over the top button, optimally only the middle button should be fastened, but it’s also possible to fasten the top button too if so desired without ruining the lines of the jacket.
This style first features when George Lazenby introduces the button three jacket to James Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Lazenby wears this style on two navy three-piece suits, a light blue two-piece suit and a houndstooth checked hacking jacket, all made by Dimi Major, and he wears these examples either open, buttoned at the middle or buttoned at both the top and middle. The lapels on all of these naturally roll to between the top and middle buttons, but the lapels can be pushed back to comfortably fasten the top button. Lazenby is the only Bond who ever fastens the top button of his button three jackets.
The 3-roll-2.5 suit became the predominant style that James Bond has worn since the 1990s, starting when costume designer Lindy Hemming and Brioni took control of Pierce Brosnan’s suits for GoldenEye in 1995. Though button three suits were very popular at the time Brosnan was Bond, he never fell victim to the 1990s trend of flat lapels that almost required to be buttoned at the top as well as at the middle. Brosnan either buttoned his suits at only the middle button or didn’t button them at all.
The lapels on Brosnan’s button three suits in GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day are cut to end just at the top button, but they are designed to roll down over the top button a little when only the middle button is fastened.
Brioni suits have a softer construction than Bond’s previous English suits, and because of this the front of the jacket rolls out a bit above the middle button and into the lapel when only the middle button is fastened. This gives the look of a lapel line that extends through the top button, but the lapel itself is cut and sewn to end at the top button. The roll on the Brioni suits is not as pronounced as on the Dimi Major suits because the construction is softer and lighter, so the lapels do not have as much support for a roll. Jackets in heavier fabrics will tend to roll out more over the top button because there is more support for more roll.
When Daniel Craig started as James Bond in Casino Royale in 2006, Brioni stayed on and continued to make the same 3-roll-2.5 style that they made for Brosnan, just in a higher button stance to follow current trends. Craig’s suits have a closer fit in the chest than Brosnan’s have, and because of this the lapel roll is pulled out a little further on Craig’s suits, thus extending the lapel line further down.
The 3-roll-2.5 returned again on Daniel Craig’s Tom Ford suits in Skyfall. The lapels on the Skyfall suit jackets break below the top button, and they roll through but not completely over the top button. These lapels do not extend down to the middle button of the jacket, but because the fit is so tight in the chest, the front of the jacket spreads open down to the middle button but the revers do not show below where the lapels end. The style of the Skyfall suits is often mistaken for the next style down the spectrum of button three jackets.
Three-Roll-Two
Also called “button two, show one”, “3/2 roll”, “three button two”, “three-button, button on centre”, the three-roll-two is a common style with softer tailoring. Tailors in southern Italy, most notably in Naples, are known for cutting this style, which goes well with their soft tailoring. Traditional American brands like Brooks Brothers and J. Press popularised this style in the United States with their natural-shouldered un-darted sack suits, with Brooks Brothers starting to sell it at the beginning of the 20th century. Also, some of the softer English tailors like Anderson & Sheppard and their disciples are fond of this style.
On the three-roll-two, the lapels roll down to the middle button, obscuring the top button and pretending like it isn’t even there. They often look like a button two jacket with a buttonhole sitting in the middle of the left lapel. Because the lapels roll over the top button, the top buttonhole that sits in the middle of the lapel is finished on the reverse side because that is the side that is actually seen.
The lapels on the three-roll-two may have a gentle roll to the middle button, or the lapels may have more of a fold at the middle button, making the jacket look just like a button two jacket. On very softly constructed jackets, the lapel will roll to wherever the jacket is fastened, including the bottom button!
The appeal of the three-roll-two for many is the elegance of the rolled lapel. Many also prefer the style for tradition, whether it be the American tradition, the Neapolitan tradition or the London drape tradition. Others find the three-roll-two to be an affected style because of the useless button and buttonhole in the middle of the lapel.
Cary Grant’s famous blue-grey suit in North By Northwest has a three-roll-two cut. The style does not appear in the James Bond films until A View to a Kill, when Roger Moore wears a soft charcoal woollen flannel suit made by Douglas Hayward. The lapels roll out over the top button and gradually blend in with the front of the suit until they reach the middle button. This is the way the British typically do a three-roll-two, with a gradual roll.
The three-roll-two later returned to the Bond series on Daniel Craig’s Tom Ford “Regency” suits in Quantum of Solace. These suit jackets have a bit less of a lapel roll and can more easily be mistaken for button two jackets when worn buttoned if it weren’t for the buttonhole in the middle of the left lapel. This style returned on Daniel Craig’s Tom Ford “O’Connor” suits in Spectre, which differed in its lapel roll from the “O’Connor” model in Skyfall.
The linen and silk blend Brunello Cucinelli jacket in Spectre is an unstructured button three jacket with the lapels cut to roll over the top button, but because the jacket fits rather snugly on Daniel Craig and there is nothing to hold the lapels back, the lapels roll naturally to the middle button when the jacket is fastened only at the middle button. This is reminiscent of the soft southern Italian tradition of the style.
A Spectrum of Styles
Because these three different styles fall on a spectrum, the placement of Bond’s suits into the three categories isn’t cut and dried. There’s no fine line between the different styles, particularly when the lapel rolls are very gradual. All of these variations can have a place in a man’s wardrobe, and the styles that a man chooses to wear can be determined by personal taste or by fashion trends.
Lapel roll is mainly a function of the way the jacket is cut and sewn. The amount of roll is controlled by the cut of the lapel, where the lapel is attached to the collar and how the innards of the suit are constructed. Pressing cannot properly change a lapel roll. Improper pressing can flatten a rolled lapel, but it’s not always possible to give life to a lapel that is intended to fold flat. Pressing may attempt to move where the lapels roll, but it will often be unsuccessful and cause the lapels to not lie properly against the jacket.
No matter the style of button three, the most Bondian way to wear the jacket is to only fasten the middle button. Every Bond after Lazenby fastens only the middle button, which is usually—and most effectively—placed at the waist to act as a fulcrum for both visual balance and to match where the body pivots. The latter is especially important for action since a button that is placed too low or too high restricts movement.
A lapel roll isn’t limited to the button three jacket. Sean Connery’s button two jackets from Anthony Sinclair have elegant lapel rolls, especially starting in From Russia With Love as the lapels get narrower. In comparison, Roger Moore’s button two jackets more typically have flatter lapels.
You can read more about the different variations of the button three jacket in an excellent article at Nouveau Vintage.
This article is an updated and expanded version of an article originally published on 1 December 2012. The comments from that article have been retained below.
Thank you Matt, this is just what I was hoping for. I’m starting to wish I could do an apprenticeship with a good tailor, I find all of this so interesting.
Great post as always. I love the symmetry of a 3-roll-2, it sets a man apart from the usual 2-button suit.
this is my favorite type of suit. the 3 roll 2. i own two suits, ralph lauren and a Hickey Freeman that elegantly, gently rolls at the top just enough to hide the top button. i also have a charles tyrwhitt sports coat that is cut the same way. this by far seperates Bond from the standard status quo of suiting. i preferred his suits from QoS alot better over all.
Matt is a 3-button really more conservative than a 2-button? After DBs, I thought it would be a 2-button and 3/4 buttons are more contemporary. So within 3-button, is a 3 roll 2 top of the traditional quotient followed by the normal 3 button? I think the A&S house style includes the 3 roll 2? Thanks
A&S does a 3-roll-2 in a very gradual roll, something I didn’t cover in this article. I’m not talking about what’s more formal or more conservative but rather what’s an older, more traditional style. The button two is a more contemporary style over the older button three, in any of its permutations. As lapels started being rolled to the middle button tailors started omitting the top button. Double-breasted suits are considered more flashy than conservative today, though they are still a very traditional style.
My favorite style of jacket. Two buttons are always fine, but I definitely prefer the 3 with a top roll. It disappoints me that it’s hard to find a 3 from most of the traditional makers anymore. Even Brooks Brothers offers very few 3 buttons anymore as 2 buttons are the trendy standard.
Matt,
You probably answered this in your last paragraph, but would a good tailor be able to take a 3 button suit with the lapel joined above the top button and redo it to look like a 3-roll-2? I have several 3 button jackets I bought quite a long time ago that I need to get retailored anyway, and I thought I’d ask. Probably not possible.
The roll can be altered a little, but you can’t change it that drastically. And only if the suits are fully canvassed. It also depends on how the lapel is cut.
Thanks. I’ll give it a shot. My regular tailor probably isn’t up to the job, but we have some higher-end ones in town that might be able to help.
Thank you for a very developped article, Matt.
The subject looks fascinating to me, because I love three-roll-two suit jackets. To me, it’s like having both a three and a two button suit in only one suit, the formality of the button-three (because they still are three buttons and three buttonholes anyway) and the more flattering cut of a two-button suit jacket, which emphases the v-shape of the torso. A tailor I know told me that a 3-roll-2 was the least formal option for a single-breasted jacket. I can understand this point of view, since the lapels are a little folded over.
By the way, Matt, is it possible for you to make an article about the typical Brioni cut ? You often use this expression but I am not shure of what it is exactly. I also wonder if it includes the Brioni notched lapels, which seems, in a subtle way, rather typical, but I may be wrong. Thanks a lot !
Greetings, Matt.
I was wondering if you could identify the roll style in Daniel’s suits below?
The first looks like a 3 roll 2. I was quite fond of this style until I saw Daniel’s suits in Skyfall.
1. http://cdn04.cdn.justjared.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/craig-skyfall/daniel-craig-skyfall-bond-23-photo-call-04.jpg
Just one thing about the Skyfall suits had me a bit OCD-ish though. I’d like a 3-button suit that has the lapels rolled to make it appear like a two-button suit, but I don’t want the lapels to be flat. Below was a suit that Daniel wore to a Quantum of Solace premier which pretty much captures what I’m looking for. What type of roll do you think this is?
2. http://suits.forourpla.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/quantum_of_solace_tom_ford.jpg
Thanks for the article. Great work!
Those are both 3 roll 2, and pretty much the same.
Rally interesting and useful article – thank you, Matt. The lapel-roll over a 3/2 button is one of those touches that creates an elegant look so subtly it’s sometimes not even clear what’s creating the elegance…
That said, it is so subtle that, in my opinion, two of the photos in your article illustrate a further point… As you noted, Daniel Craig’s coats tend to be cut quite tight (or maybe it’s just his massive pecs ;-); and the picture of Pierce Brosnan shows rather the opposite – his coat is really quite loose and rumpled-looking. To my mind, there’s not much point aiming for the subtlety of a perfect “3 roll to 2” if you’re then going to more or less obliterate that effect by having the coat too tight or too loose.
Daniel Craig and Marc Forster briefly discuss Tom Ford suits in this interview
http://youtu.be/mO7wl7C1QZI
Aren’t the sleeves of Brosnan’s jacket too long? They completely cover his shirt cuffs (assuming he isn’t wearing a short-sleeved shirt :-)). This is a bit surprising from a guy who normally dresses so fastidiously (dare I say fussily).
The sleeves are just a little too long, though the length isn’t very noticeable since more often than not Brosnan’s shirt cuff is showing in the scene due to action. This is typical for Brosnan’s sleeves.
Usually a rule of thumb is 1/4 to 1/2 an inch of shirt cuff should be exposed.
I have noticed that the Brioni suits on Brosnan and Craig only partially roll, which is not a 3 roll 2, it is a 3 roll 2.5. Why did they not put 3 roll 2’s on Brosnan’s or Craig’s Brioni suits, but they do it that way on the Tom Ford suits on Daniel Craig? Does the 3 roll 2.5 look better on Brosnan than the 3 roll 2 and vice versa for Daniel Craig?
What you are saying is that it’s not Bond’s British tradition to have a 3-roll-2 button configuration, but they are having that because it’s more sophisticated?
Button three-roll-two is merely about taste. It is no more or less sophisticated than any other style of jacket with three buttons, but it is more relaxed and not something that a man from the military would typically be wearing. The two schools that use them, American and Neapolitan, have more casual tailoring. Both American and Neapolitan jackets are very soft, particularly in the shoulders. The Ivy League American style is also more casual due to the lack of darts—and thus shape—in front. The British tailor the most structured—and thus formal—jackets, and the button three-roll-two style is out of place on that style, in my opinion. The softer British tailors do a soft lapel roll, but they don’t usually do a roll-two style.
The three roll two style of Quantum of Solace and Spectre mostly is an American (or Neapolitan) style. It’s a little affected since it’s really just a button two suit with an extra button and buttonhole in the lapel. It’s not part of Bond’s British tradition. There’s no hard lapel roll in the middle of the top and middle buttons on Brioni. The Brioni suits merely have a soft, gentle roll. It’s a classic Italian way of doing a button three jacket.
Why is it that button 3 roll lapel suits are only found it higher end suits, like Tom Ford and Brioni? I have tried, and very few suits that cost less than $1000 offer 3 roll 2s.
A rolled lapel, whether it’s at the middle button like on some of Tom Ford’s jackets or at the top button like on Brioni jackets, require canvas in the lapel. Canvas requires more labour, so canvassed suits are more expensive. The cheapest button-three-roll-two jackets are from J. Press in the un-darted Ivy League style. A good lapel roll is sign of a well-constructed suit. Keep in mind that a lapel roll is more of a result of good construction than it is of style. Good suits do not have a hard-folded lapel.
Do you like the Brioni’s partial button three roll or Tom Ford’s button 3 roll 2? The Brioni’s lapel roll does not make the suit look like a 2 button, but Tom Ford’s does? Which one do you like better and why?
I like the roll at the top button like on Brioni suits or on the Skyfall suits.
Do current Brioni suits have the same type of roll, or is it different? Why did you say that you liked the Brioni’s roll better?
Current Brioni suits still roll at the top button, though most of the newer models have only two buttons. The button three roll two on the Quantum of Solace and Spectre suits is really just like a button two jacket. There’s no point in the top button and I think it’s an affected style.
My style in single breasted is ever Three-Roll-Two-and-a-Half.
The problem is, even if you have canvassed lapels, you have to find a top-rate dry cleaning establishment that knows how to iron a lapel with a roll properly. If most of the ready to wear suits out there were canvassed, this wouldn’t be a problem.
I have some jackets that did have a slight roll when I bought them. After 2 or 3 years (yet I just take them to the dry cleaning once a year), every lapel is now flat, even if I try explaining that to them… too sad !
I have the feeling that 2-button jackets are less likely to have that problem.
Thanks for the update, Matt. I hope you are well, as I hope most of the commentators are too.
I can’t wait to read your articles about 007 essentials trousers (and shirts perhaps ? that would be great) to wear ! :)
Keep up the good job,
Antoine
Those articles will all come at some point, along with one on coats too!
Le Chiffre, time to find a new cleaner! Even the cleaners in my area that are above average but still not the greatest can recognize a 3/2 jacket and press it correctly. I recommend spending the extra money to get your tailored clothing cleaned at Rave Fabricare if possible. They’ll not only do a better job pressing but clean the most thoroughly yet gently of anyone I’ve seen.
Jovan, thanks a lot ! Although I am not sure there are Rave Fabricare stores in Paris, France ;)
Since I unfortunately wear suits very rarely, I guess I will use top of the line cleaners once every two years. They will last longer I guess. It’s about $70 for a 2-piece…
Jovan what do you mean by 3/2?
I recently purchased a RTW Harris tweed that is fully canvassed. I believe it is in the 3-roll-2.5 style that you reference in this article. The construction is fairly soft, and the fabric is heavy. I haven’t actually worn it yet since the weather in the Northeastern US is just starting to change, but I plan to wear it with only the middle button fastened.
That sounds fantastic! I want a new Harris Tweed myself.
Thanks! I’m looking forward to wearing it, although the fabric is heavy enough that I might be waiting until November. The great thing about it is if I can stay in decent shape, I can wear the thing forever because tweed is so hard-wearing.
Most of my suits are in some form of a 3-button configuration, I’ve always liked that style, probably influenced by latter-day Bond. However I agree with Le Chiffre re: dry cleaning, it is incredibly difficult to find one that handles a three-roll-two properly, probably because everything is put into an industrial pressing machine rather than hand ironed. First world problems, I know, but still frustrating for us clothes horses!
Try Rave Fabricare.
Press it yourselves, men, it’s good for the spirits!
My Turkish Cypriot pal knows how to roll the lapel of a three-button suit coat or casual jacket and loves me for insisting on it. His wife says he likes the way I dress. They’ve been in business together as drycleaners in London’s East End for decades, though.
Don’t you ask before leaving your treasures whether they know how to use an iron?
3 button suit discrimination makes me sad. A there button suit is NOT a “old man suit”. But that is the way it is PERCEIVED now following the 2 button trend articles. My consigner won’t even think about a three button. His customers think they are grandpa suits and won’t buy. Grrrrrr. Thank you for this article. These men need educating.
“3 button suit discrimination makes me sad. A there button suit is NOT a ‘old man suit'”.
-I completely agree!
What does it mean and in what way would the charcoal suit in AVTAK have the roll more pronounced if the button was fastened and what if you fastened both the top and middle buttons?
The lapel rolls in a pronounced way out and through the top button down to the middle button. If the middle button were fastened the lapel would look flatter, and the jacket would look more like one with two buttons. The top button isn’t designed to be fastened because the lapel rolls through it.
So you would interrupt the roll by fastening the top button?
Correct. It’s not designed to fasten at the top.