Hello, Open Thread. Happy National Siblings Day. If you have brothers or sisters, hug them now. It has been, notably, a week without any creative director changes in fashion — a relief, given all the other events of the week. Instead, fashion provided some much-needed distraction. Two things that caught my eye:
In other positive news, Gabriela Hearst (that’s her above) is the latest designer to hop onboard the sports fashion train. She will be designing the “tailored uniforms” of the Uruguayan World Cup team — which is to say, the merino wool suits they wear for their arrival at games and other official events, not their on-pitch shorts and jerseys. Like Armani, which is creating the formal looks for the Italian team, and Loewe, which is doing the same for Spain, her participation is a reflection of the increasing synergies between fashion and sports — and the way designers can boost the profile of athletes while paying homage to their own roots. Hearst is, as you may know, Uruguayan. The fact that she is working with her home team, which many North Americans may not know, reminds me of Telfar Clemens dressing the Liberian Olympic team for the 2020 and 2024 Summer Games, and Stella Jean creating opening and closing ceremony outfits for Haiti at the Milan Olympics. It’s a source of national and personal pride, which can translate into athletic achievement and social media virality. NUMBER OF THE DAY
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| Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce at the Dolce & Gabbana fall 2026 fashion show in Milan in February. Alessandro Garofalo/Reuters |
Finally, in a reflection of how accustomed we have become to upheavals in fashion companies, there was a momentary hoo-ha on Thursday night when Bloomberg broke the news that Stefano Gabbana had “resigned as chairman of Dolce & Gabbana.”
This seemed to suggest to many that Mr. Gabbana had resigned from the company — shock! horror! what will Melania Trump wear? — but turned out not to be true. According to a statement from the brand:
“The Dolce & Gabbana Group confirms that Stefano Gabbana has tendered his resignation, effective as of 1 January 2026, from his positions within Dolce & Gabbana Holding Srl, Dolce & Gabbana Trademarks Srl and Dolce & Gabbana Srl. These resignations have no impact whatsoever on the creative activities carried out by Stefano Gabbana on behalf of the group.”
It’s kind of like Anna Wintour stepping up from her position as editor in chief of Vogue to focus on being editor of all Vogues. Gabbana is dropping the daily grind of corporate to focus on creative. Rest easy, all lovers of hot Sicilian widow’s weeds.
Think about that. Then consider the stylings of Mrs. Trump during the White House Easter Egg Roll and what they may mean, read up on an incredible detective story about luxury watches, and say farewell to Linda Dresner, one of the OG shop women who taught other women how to dress.
And have a good, safe weekend. Monday is the W.N.B.A. draft. Get ready for more sports and fashion fabulousness.
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Every week on Open Thread, Vanessa will answer a reader’s fashion-related question, which you can send to her anytime via email or X. Questions are edited and condensed.
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| Lil Nas X, buttoned up in Los Angeles last month. Daniel Cole/Reuters |
Given how much time is spent encouraging women to break every fashion rule in the old stylebook (starting with no white after Labor Day), it is notable that many male fashion dictats have stuck. Chief among them is the mandate that when it comes to the classic single-breasted, two-button suit, the bottom button must remain undone. Why?
Well, according to an assortment of tailors, critics, stylists and other men’s wear experts, it’s simple: It actually looks better.
Alan Flusser, a tailor to the masters of the universe and the author of “Dressing the Man,” laid it out for me via email: “One of the most crucial proportions to an ideal tailored jacket is its length, which should be long enough to cover the buttocks but short enough to produce as long a leg line as possible.”
“In addition,” he wrote, “its waistline should, as a general rule, rest just above a man’s navel. If buttoned without the lower button done up, the coat front will then move in fluidity with a man’s gait, giving the appearance of a smaller waist, slightly flared hip and added height.”
Fashion myth has it that the first person who figured this out was King Edward VII, who started opening the bottom button of his jacket after he gained some weight because it was getting uncomfortable. Edward, according to Farid Chenoune in “A History of Men’s Fashion,” was “one of those pivotal figures so crucial to the history of men’s fashion in the way they orient, regulate and accelerate change when the world shifts from one era to another.” This, he wrote, was one of his great contributions.
Over time, it simply became the accepted way of dressing. Now, “modern jackets are cut with the expectation that the bottom button will never be used,” Derek Guy, a men’s wear critic, said. “The buttonhole down there mostly survives as a vestigial detail, like the lapel buttonhole that once let you fasten the jacket up to the neck or the tiny coin pocket on five‑pocket jeans.”
If you do button it, Mr. Flusser said, the jacket ends up being sort of tight around the hips, which creates a less-than-attractive line.
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| The Kennedy brothers in 1963, mostly unbuttoned. Associated Press |
That said, there are some dissenters. Lil Nas X was recently photographed leaving court on the multiple days of his felony assault case wearing his suit jacket entirely buttoned up, perhaps in order to signify that he was, literally, pulling himself together. (The judge ruled that charges would be dismissed if he voluntarily completes a mental health program.) John F. Kennedy often wore his jackets buttoned, reportedly to cover the back brace he had to wear.
All of which makes the question of whether to button or not to button one of interpretation: In buttoning the second button, what signal are you actually sending? While doing so is partly about you, it’s mostly about the people looking at you. If those people have any knowledge of tailoring, buttoning may read as ignorance. “It distances you from the centers of cultural capital, rather than putting you closer to them,” Mr. Guy said.
Joseph Rosenfeld, a stylist who works with executives in Silicon Valley and Wall Street, went even further. “A suit is one of the most structured and formal forms of dress,” he said. “That structure is part of what signals credibility. Within that, though, credibility comes from how naturally the clothing supports your presence.
He continued: “Fastening the bottom button can make you appear constrained, as if you’re trying to control the impression rather than letting it come through naturally. In that sense, it can have the opposite effect and make you look less credible.”
At least with one exception. “With a double‑breasted jacket, fastening the bottom button is perfectly acceptable,” Mr. Guy said. That way, you get to have your fashion cake and wear it, too.
