Surgeon’s Cuffs: Myth or Magic?

among the buzzwords in the world of classic menswear is “surgeon’s cuffs,” and while doctors would likely understand immediately, many aren’t sure what it is, and may (or may not) be missing out on this jacket feature! So, let’s define surgeon’s cuffs, and debunk whether they live up to the hype today!

As you can imagine, a surgeon’s cuffs can get pretty messy in the operating theater, especially in the days before health and safety as a concern. I’m pretty sure that guy is using a steak knife for this operation. And although we started with a bit of a joke here, this will actually relate to the main point today.

The surgeon in the picture below isn’t wearing a jacket, but he does have his sleeves rolled up. This is something that’s easy to do with a shirt, of course, but can the same be said with a jacket? Well, if you take a look at your own jacket sleeve, it’s likely that you’re going to find a row of buttons down the cuff and these are most often going to be accompanied by buttonhole stitching.

Most often, these buttons are going to be purely decorative. But, in some cases, they will actually function. This is what’s referred to as a “surgeon’s cuff,” which is to say a jacket cuff that has working buttons. So, are they just myth or truly magic?

History of Surgeon’s Cuffs
First off here, there are a number of misconceptions about just how cuff buttons came to be. Some believe that buttons like these were originally added to British Navy uniforms by Lord Nelson to stop the lower members of the ranks from wiping their noses on their sleeves.

In this painting, though, we can see Nelson at the age of 18 wearing a uniform that was introduced in the year 1767 with the orientation of the cuff buttons already in place. 1767, by the way, was nine years before this painting was made and we’d say it’s highly unlikely that a 9-year old would be the source of a new button orientation on jackets.Furthermore, even though Nelson’s high military rank means that he would have worn a uniform such as this, lower-ranking enlisted men wouldn’t have. A similar story has to do with Frederick the Great of Prussia, who was said to be disappointed when inspecting his men who had filthy sleeves.

He was told that his men were wiping their sweaty faces on their sleeves, and thus, metal buttons were added to the ends that would scratch up their faces and, therefore, deter them from doing so. Other versions of this same story exist, too, tracing their way back to figures like Napoleon.

However, these are all just old wives’ tales and, in fact, they are sometimes attributed also incorrectly to being the origin point of French cuffs on shirts. Instead of spending any more time on these old wives’ tales then, let’s look at the proper history cuffs and buttons on jacket sleeves, starting in the 17th century.

17th Century
Firstly, consider this style of overcoat, which dates to the 1650s. It’s got an excessive amount of buttons running down the length of the sleeve so that the arm could move freely when unbuttoned or be buttoned inside of the sleeve and the coat for added warmth. Also, the cuff of the sleeve, which is wide and open, hangs a good deal lower than the end of the arm.

This would eventually inform the basis of the 17th-century frock coat, and you can see a model from the 1660s here. The overall shape of the coat and the sleeve have slimmed down and become more fitted. And, instead of being quite long, the cuffs are now rolled or folded over and, most importantly, buttoned to the rest of the sleeve.