Surgeons' Cuffs
Published: Wednesday, August 30th 2006
What does it mean?
It is a term that has become synonymous in modern day tailoring that means your suit jacket has 4 real holes (a working cuff)
The cuff buttons must be able to be opened to allow the cuffs to be turned up or rolled up.
In the Victorian era, it was common practice for doctors and surgeons to work in their frock coats. The surgeons of the era would literally undo the button working cuff on their jacket, roll up their jacket sleeves,take out the tools of their trade and get on with the job on the patient!
This practice of working in your every day wear, even to perform major surgery, continued for many years. It was only stopped when surgeons realised that infections in patients were linked to the clothing they themselves wore.
So the next time your tailor asks 'do you want surgeons cuffs' ? you will know exactly what it means!
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