We need to talk about John Cena’s ‘suit game’

Yep, it’s a slow news day at the start of what promises to be a slow news weekend.

But John Cena’s transition from a hip-hop emcee to a Hollywood one, one of the final phases of which is the press tour leading up to his ESPYs hosting gig on July 13, has provided us lots of opportunities to see the Face That Runs The Place in gear other than what he calls his “Superman costume”.

Example:

Now, contrary to what you might think, I’m not here to knock the plaid. My own style runs a bit more to the traditional black/blue/gray/kahki, but I respect a man who’s not afraid to break the mold. And if I had to wear jorts and color-coordinated shirts, hats and wristbands at my full-time job, I’d probably want to experiment a bit when I’m off the clock, too.

No, my beef with Cena’s ‘suit game’ - and this goes back to well before he became a part-time Today Show host - is that the man keeps his suit coat buttoned at all times.

Sartorialists the world over will tell you... when standing, you need to button your coat (unless you’re wearing a three-piece suit, then your vest should be buttoned and you can let your lapels swing free to show it off). When you sit, you unbutton it.

The reason for this is simple. If you don’t unbutton when you sit, your blazer will bunch up in weird ways and look like trash - or at least not as good as it was designed to look:

NBC.com

Johnny C. likely spends more money on tailoring than I make in a year, and he’s obviously attached to a look that says “I’m classy but I want this suit to shred like Bruce Banner’s pants should I need to deadlift something immediately”. He probably likes the material being stretched over the upper body he’s worked so hard to create and maintain.

But wrong is wrong.

Don’t take my word for it.

Whether you see this image from Mad Men as Roger Sterling & Don Draper, or John Slattery & Jon Hamm, these are dudes who know how to wear a suit (H/T to Art of Style for the perfect example).

You gotta unbutton that $#!+, man.