So first of all, what's the difference between a waistcoat and a vest?
The answer is nothing, it's exactly the same thing.
I'm wearing one right here and you can see one here.
Most of the time, men wear three-piece suits which means it's a matching vest and it's
the same fabric as the pants and the jacket.
Now while it's easy, in today's video, we want to discuss
odd vest.
What's an odd vest?
It's basically a contrasting waistcoat or vest that is different than the jacket and
or the pants.
Let's start off with odd vest history.
It has been around since the 1800s and it was always an elegant way to add color to
your outfit and to stand out.
Often, they had artistic buttons and intricate detailing.
Interestingly, some people even wore two waistcoats on top of each other simply to get a different
look, sometimes you can see this idea of having two waistcoats in formal morning wear when
you add a slip which is a piece of fabric that is buttoned behind your waistcoat and
it's like a piped border on the inside of the waistcoat which adds to the formality
and interesting contrast.
So why should you wear odd vest and why should you invest in them?
Let's say you have two jackets and one suit in your wardrobe; adding another jacket gives
you another outfit instead, if you take the same money and invest in three odd vests,
let's say in a red one, burgundy, maybe blue and green, all of a sudden you can create
27 outfits.
That's a huge increase in what you can do and if you just change the vest, it's a small
capital investment but it has a huge visual impact on the feel and look of your outfit.
So first, let's talk about lighter colored odd vests.
They're really easy to combine with a darker suit or darker garments simply because they
add this contrast.
Ideally, you don't want the vest to be the same color as your shirt, otherwise, it all
blends in.
That being said, a lighter colored waistcoat looks great with so many different things
and it will almost certainly be a winner no matter what you have in your wardrobe right
now.
Historically, dapper gents would wear white vests and you can still do that today but
ideally, you go with maybe a striped shirt or something that's slightly contrasting,
otherwise, you'll just lose it and it looks like a white block.
In terms of material, I like a white or off-white velvet or mole or doe skin, simply because
it's warm in the winter, it adds an extra layer, and it looks magnificent with any kind
of dark suits whether it's gray, blue, or brown.
Alternatively, a buff waistcoat or a light gray waistcoat looks really dapper as well,
it also is appropriate for business suits, as well as formal morningwear.
You can exchange the vest with a stroller suit which is the equivalent to a tuxedo for
formal daywear or with a morning coat which is the equivalent to white tie when it comes
to daywear.
To learn more about morning dress, please check out our in-depth morning dress guide
and it'll answer any question you might have about this wonderful dress code.
If you get a waistcoat and let's say a sand color or a buff color, you can actually wear
that with the most formal outfits as well as striped suits, semi-formal suits, such
as brown suits, as well as tweed jackets, and combinations.
It's probably one of the most versatile color for vests you can get.
Now, a vest is a lot easier to fit than a jacket simply because they don't have sleeves
and all that matters is the proper length in the front and the back as well as your
chest and ideally, you should have a deep cut armhole because unlike with a jacket there
are no sleeves and so a deeper cut provides more comfort for your movement.
The back of a vest is usually lined with the lining fabric of the suit jacket or if it's
a standalone piece, it may be a contrasting fabric that can be quite bold, or quite subtle,
very similar in color.
If you take it a notch up and you go with a custom vest, sometimes they can use the
same fabric in the front and the back.
Now that may make you feel warmer but it has the advantage that you can take off your jacket
and wear just the vest in case you overheat and you'll still look very dapper.
The most important thing when wearing a vest is that you never combine it with a belt.
Why?
you might wonder.
It a little layer underneath your vest and makes it gap between the pants and the vest
and it looks cheap and odd, therefore, either go with side adjusters on your pants or with
suspenders but never a belt.
If you want to go with vests for your business suits, I suggest you go with single breasted
suits because double breqasted suits will only show a very tiny bit of the vest on top
of it.
Also with a double-breasted suit and a vest, you have lots of layers which makes you quickly
overheat especially in an office situation.
When you start, I suggest to go with solid colored vests for business suits such as gray,
maybe buff, light blue, or something darker.
Let's say you have a light grey three-piece suit, you can also use that vest and combine
it with a charcoal or navy suit.
At the end of the day, you have to experiment and see what works for you and the situation.
For example in this outfit, I'm wearing a charcoal Brown suit.
To learn more about charcoal Brown, please check out the article on our website.
Overall, it's a little less formal than let's say a charcoal or a navy suit, however, I
increase the level of formality by adding a white double-breasted waistcoat.
When you have a striped three-piece business suit, it's much more difficult to combine
that vest with other outfits simply because the stripe usually requires you to wear at
least the same jacket.
A great way to split up your three-piece suit is to wear the matching waistcoat and jacket
with a different pair of pants.
I suggest you don't do that with a striped suit because that's usually a little more
formal but you can do it with small pattern suits such as a houndstooth suit.
If you like to wear sport coats or tweed jackets, you can basically go with any kind of fabric
under the sun and every pattern you want.
For example, the mannequin here has a regatta silk and it's quite formal so I try to pair
it with a solid shirt and a solid jacket, on the other hand, the jacket I'm wearing
here right now is a tweed jacket in green and I can wear it with another kind of tweed
jacket for the vest.
All you have to pay attention to is that the scale of the patterns you incorporate into
your outfit are distinctly different.
So large tartan, very fine stripe, and a even finer fabric that is just based on the weave;
that way I pair a solid tie with solid pants and everything works well together.
Another interesting option that's rather bold for waistcoats is a tartan vest.
It has its origins in Scotland and one of the most popular fabrics is probably the Black
Watch tartan.
Some people like to pair them during holidays maybe with a velvet jacket and I suggest to
only combine bold waistcoats like that with solid jackets, otherwise, it's an overload
of patterns and it's not flattering.
Another popular waistcoat fabric from England is a so-called tattersall fabric.
It has basically small cheques or mini window panes in two different colors, on a lighter
background such as pastel yellow, buff, or sometimes even off-white.
Most of the time, it comes in basic colors such as green, yellow, blue, or red, for the
cheques and it's a staple that's very bold but because it's classic you can wear it without
a problem.
Now, most lets you find these days are single breasted and usually they do not have a lapel
just like the one I'm wearing here right now.
If you want to be a little different, you can add all a lapel to your vest because it
just adds another layer of something and it's interesting.
If you want to make your waistcoat even more formal, I suggest to look into a double-breasted
waistcoat.
Unfortunately, they're very hard to find off the rack and so it pays to have them custom-made;
that aside, I really love double breasted waistcoats because they add a different look
to it and they're just different.
Because they're a little more formal, I still want to wear them with tweed sport coats.
I make sure to get them in with fabrics they're a little more casual such as this velvet or
doe skin or mole skin.
In terms of fit for any waistcoat, it's important that it always covers your waistband, therefore,
it's better paired with pants with a high rise.
There's nothing worse than wearing a waistcoat that has a piece of shirt or tie peeking out
from underneath of it.
It just looks sloppy and amateurish.
In my opinion, a fantastic addition to any man's wardrobe is a knit vest.
it's warm, it's as comfortable as a sweater and maybe even more so because it don't have
sleeves, and you can easily take it on or off, and it a very casual character.
Personally, I have a blue alpaca waistcoat that I like to travel with, it keeps me warm
and it gives me a lot of options in terms of traveling and it never wrinkles.
Snother popularsweater vest pattern is the fair isle pattern.
It was popularized by the prince of wales and it works so well because it uses lots
of different colors to create that pattern that is so typical for that sweater or for
the vest.
And because of that, it combines very well with all kinds of casual sport coats because
chances are, some of the color in the vest is also in the jacket.
When you look at relatively inexpensive wedding outfitters, you can see these intricately
woven, jacquard silks, flashy waistcoats, and I personally think they're rather gaudy
and I wouldn't wear them myself.
So, unless you really know what you're doing I would stay clear those vests and go with
solids and classic patterns as mentioned in this guide.
So last but not least, where should you buy your waistcoats?
That's actually a very hard question to answer because not many stores have really good waistcoats
on offer in different materials and patterns.
So the easiest route for you will be to go custom.
I've also had good luck finding them at thrift stores because back in the day, people would
wear waistcoats a lot more especially odd vests.
That being said, we're actually working on a line of odd vests so stay tuned for those.
At the end of the day, I think every man should have at least five waistcoats in his arsenal
because the more of them you have, the more easy it will be to combine different outfits
that look unique every time even though they're comprised of the same items in your wardrobe.
in today's outfit I'm wearing a vintage tweed jacket that I picked up at a thrift store
for under 20 bucks.
it has pockets, with flaps that are buttoned so that's why I'm not wearing the pocket square
because it's a sport coat there's a center vent and so that's perfectly appropriate even
though you don't go horseback riding.
I combined it with a lighter colored waistcoat which is a bit of a tweed which has like red
flags but a khaki green undertone with brown buttons.
it's single breasted and leaving a button button undone because it's a habit that was
introduced by Prince Albert and you can learn more about a tradition and the different theories
behind it in our article on the website here.
The shirt is red and white striped and it picks up the red from the waistcoat and it
goes well with a green.
As I mentioned before, the pattern scale has to be different in order for the whole outfit
to work together.
I'm adding a blue silk knit tie from Fort Belvedere to the mix to even out the bold
patterns and I throw in a dark brown pair of corduroys from Ralph Lauren which just
make the look warm and fall/winter like.
the shoes are a pair of Allen Edmonds chukka boots and they pick up the color of the waistcoat,
they are contrasting to the pants, but consistent because they go with the green and the vest.
the socks are blue and red striped from Fort Belvedere and they pick up the red in the
shirt and a blue in the tie.
my cufflinks are likewise from Fort Belvedere and made out of a tiger's eye which is brown
and has a effect when you move it in the light which is quite elegant and it works well with
the brown pants as well as the waistcoat.
my ring has a blue stone that goes well with a socks and a tie that way it's all tied together
without being matchy matchy.
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