Many better off-the-rack jackets can be made to have functional buttonholes. Off-the-rack jackets are made without working buttons because if the holes were actually made, it would be extremely difficult to alter the sleeve length. The sleeves would have to be taken in at the shoulders. What determines whether or not you can have working buttonholes is whether or not the jacket has sleeve vents or plackets in the cuffs. A placket is the opening where the fabric overlaps. If there is no placket, working buttonholes can’t be done. If there is a placket, any tailor worthy of the title should be able to do this job for a reasonable price. Barneys New York charges $56 to make working buttonholes on a jacket sleeve. It shouldn’t cost more in Cleveland. The sign of a good tailor is his buttonhole. There should be no loose, hanging threads. Some people think all of this is rather pretentious, but I like to be able to roll up my sleeves if necessary, and there is something silly about fake buttonholes. And as Oscar Wilde said, “A really well-made buttonhole is the only link between art and nature.“
