Jacket conversion - leaving two buttons?

[massmanute]

I just acquired a two button sport jacket that I would like to have converted to a kilt jacket. Most conversions I have seen described here keep only one button. Can anyone comment on the possibility to keep both buttons? Can one shorten the jacket and open the bottom front of the jacket while keeping two buttons and have the jacket look good?

Also, can anyone comment on how much to shorten the jacket?

Thanks.

[Mickey]

It depends on how high the buttons are. Most sport coats have the buttons too low to keep both. To get a two button, you generally have to find a suit jacket unless you get lucky.

As far as length of the jacket, I follow the rule that the bottom of the jacket should be no longer then the stitched down part of the kilt.

[MacMillans son]

It depends on how high the buttons are. Most sport coats have the buttons too low to keep both. To get a two button, you generally have to find a suit jacket unless you get lucky.

As far as length of the jacket, I follow the rule that the bottom of the jacket should be no longer then the stitched down part of the kilt.

I would certainly agree with Mickey in theory. However, I think that conversion jackets require a bit more latitude than store bought, made to order jackets. My biggest pet peeves with conversion jackets is the location of the pockets relative to the hem of the jacket, the size of the pocket flaps, and the shape of the cutaway for the sporran. I would much rather have, and I do have, a jacket that is an inch too long (relative to the fell), with pockets that are properly related to the hem and a nicely shaped cutaway, than a jacket that is cut perfectly to the bottom of the fell and sacrifices both of the other points in the process. People spend much more time interacting with you from the front than looking at you walk away. So I recommend letting those conditions that are seen from the front determine (within reason) the length.

One small "trick" that my alteration specialist used instead of raising the pocket flaps and leaving them their original size, was to just shortened them in their height without moving them at all. This gives them both the right relationship to the hem, and also the right scale to that distance.

Relative to the cutaway in the front, I prefer that the radius does not intersect the invisible vertical line that comes straight down from the edge of the pockets. Stop the radius before it crosses that point. If not your eye will see that as cutting off the corner of the pocket which is visually disturbing, at least to me.

Most conversion jackets will require you to play with those variables a little bit to get the balance and lines just right " A little longer" "A little less radius" "Start the radius a little higher or lower ? " etc. I think it is well worth it though.

Best of luck!

Brooke

[Mipi]

I agree, although I haven't done (yet) any jacket conversion. But, I'm playing a lot with "design". All greatly depends on how the jacket you intend to covert looks.

Take o photo of your jacket and play a bit in Photoshop (or Gimp...) to see how it would look.

Good luck and post the pics of end product, please.

[MacMillans son]

PS. Remember the jacket is going to be worn open nearly all, if not all, the time. So the cutaway in front needs not be as large, nor dramatic, as we sometimes think.

Hope those tips help. I'm now off to enjoy opening morning near a grain field .

[madmacs]

The other thing to consider is how high the lapels are... A long low cut opening will generally have the buttons lower...

If you have the jacket already, i'd advise getting a box of safety pins and start playing...

I usually look at the length and pin it up first... After that you can look at the front from an aesthetic point of view... Pin the curves to the best fit and try it on... If the pockets look too low, you can try pinning the flap to shorten it... If that doesnt look right you can look at what us involved in raising the flap

If you still dont like it, you havent cut anything yet so just take the pins out... Try again or just wear it as a normal jacket

One thing as far as the pockets go, if you buy a regular instead of a long, and i would assume a short instead of a regular, both the sleeves and the body will be too short, but since the pockets are as was previously said relative to the bottom hem, in general they will effectively be higher if the jacket is too short.

You will end up with less cut off the bottom (might need to get creative if you want fancy cuffs) and you will probably have to lengthen the sleeves (easy)

[OC Richard]

It's standard for kilt jackets in the 20th century to be strongly cut away, what I suppose might be called the traditional kilt jacket cut, like so:



But I find it very interesting that in the 1860s this cut was by no means universal. Yes we see jackets cut pretty much like 20th century ones:



Take a look at this one. Could all three front buttons be buttoned? Seems that the front edges of the jacket are intended to sweep open.



Now look at this one. It has buttons going further down the front that is normally seen on kilt jackets. I've seen crude modern kilt jacket conversions which look amazingly like this.



And this one looks like an ordinary jacket of the period, which would be worn with trousers. Due to the popular cut of that time, with the jacket sweeping open, the jacket does not hide the sporran like modern jackets do.

[massmanute]

Thanks for the pictures OC Richard. They are very interesting and helpful.

[Eleazar]

Very interesting!

Great photos.

[Farlander]

In thrift stores, you might come across a old 3 button jacket. In that case, cutting it away to a 2 button one could work out quite nicely.