A classic 6×2 double-breasted suit by Little Tailor Shop

The jacket will also have a peak lapel, which adds breadth by taking the standard, single-breasted lapel and extending it toward the shoulder, creating a strong, diagonal line down to the button fastening and adding further breadth to the figure you cut. “It’s a graceful, swooping shape, which accentuates the nipped-in line from the shoulders to the waist,” says Eithen Sweet, Thom Sweeney’s head cutter. It will also have double vents at the back – never a single, and certainly never ventless – that are often, but not always, cut slightly higher than those on a single-breasted jacket.

There are no hard and fast rules for the accompanying trousers, but many find that pleated trousers work best with the jacket shape. “They add a bit of flair if you have the jacket open,” says Widdett. Trouser cuffs can also be added, to accentuate the suit’s air of old-school elegance.

As to whether the DB style suits certain body shapes over others, Crompton demurs: “In my opinion, large men shouldn’t be scared of a double-breasted suit, and slim men should positively embrace it,” he says. Widdett is similarly enthusiastic: “The best-kept secret of the DB? It’s a lot more versatile than people imagine.”

The Suit Of Rakes And Rebels

It may surprise those who consider double-breasted suits to be the exclusive province of florid-faced finance men in their 60s whose girth suggests a penchant for lavish lunches, that the garment’s history has a distinctly subversive cast. Originally descended from the dress uniforms of naval officers, double-breasted suits really came to prominence in the 1920s and 30s, when it enhanced the rakishness of Warner Brothers gangsters (and their real-life equivalents) and members of the British royal family alike.