Buttons on suit cuffs

[MJDale]

Can anyone tell me if there is any significance or meaning either in tailoring or historical terms behind the number of buttons placed on the cuff of a man's suit?

[andy hughes]

The design and cut of a man's jacket is one fashion item that continues to stand the test of time. The cuff buttons are a reminder of days when a man's 'coat' rreally would button, enabling him to fold back the coat cuffs and show off his particulalry beautifully ruffed shirt sleeves. I beieve that the number of buttoms on a modern suit is purely a matter of individual, or designer choice, and I don't think there is any significance to the number in question. As always, I am happy to be proved wrong, (well, fairly happy anyway ... well, I'll live with it!).

[straz]

I have always understood the number of buttons on the cuffs of a modern suit jacket is supposed to depict the quality of cut i.e. the more buttons the better the quality.

[Aquinas]

During the reign of Catherine the Great of Russia she had several rows of pearl buttons sewn on the cuffs of her guard's uniforms to stop them wiping their noses on them!!!

[AllYourBase]

I once heard that the buttons were orignially there so that English Gentlemen in days gone by could roll their jacket sleeves up whilst riding on horseback. This prevented their sleeves from getting dirty as a consequence of leaning forward and patting the horse. The more buttons, the more effort the man was deemed to be making therefore button number became associated with status. The buttons, now merely decorative, will thus remain.