Vest etiquette

[AEF17]

I see two trends on the rare occasions that younger men wear vests, and wanted to know if that is what is considered a la mode, or if it is, as I suspect, ignorance and just plain rotten style:

1. A suit vest being so short that the shirt is plainly visible between the vest and the trousers.

2. With the aforementioned situation, the belt buckle is prominent, thus, no suspender braces are being worn.

I'm not commenting on a belt being worn instead of braces, but if one is to be worn, is to it be rather clownishly displayed as seems to be the case the last few years, or is this a modern "adaptation" that is to be embraced.

Thank you.

 

[scottyrocks]

If the shirt shows, especially in the front, the vest is too short. I will not embrace such an adaptation, but that's my own mishagoss.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

I doubt the waistcoat is too short. The rise of the trousers is too ****ing low.:flame:

 

[John in Covina]

One of the recent Men's suits stylings was to have the suit fitted tight and short at the sleeves and legs. It was a lot like being a teenager going thru a growth spurt and trying on the last suit your parents had got you. I remember my mom complaing: "you only wore that a few times!" Maybe the vest is supposed to be too small these days.

 

[John in Covina]

Does the tie appear below the vest and over the fly area?

 

[seabass]

Yup
totaly depends if your using vintage with modern or vice versa...
the trousers rise make the vest.... Thats if you use vintage trousers...& vintage vests
Modern skinny's & bikini rise Pant's with teeny zippers just dont make it with the vintage vests...
Now if your going the modern route than you dont have a problem due to new vests are long....
& go well with those lower rise pants of today.

Im having a problem that im short in stature & its so hard to find vintage vests to go with my high rise pants..
You might be a taller stature & that can be the issue also.

You read about a similar problem here all the time with the custom leather HH jackets...
Folks asking advise on fit & you see the repro jacket (which is Shorter than modern)
being worn with some modern jeans (low Rise)

very hard to mix & match..
Good question you brought up !!!!

 

[John in Covina]

I had an ivory flannel formal type DB vest made by Matt Decard Apparel as a seperate. I use it with several sports coats and my tennis type flannel pants.

 

[dnjan]

Was the shirt at least tucked in?
I have seen far too many exposed shirt tails (front and back) to get overly upset about exposed shirts from low-rise pants with vests.

 

[MikeBravo]

I doubt the waistcoat is too short. The rise of the trousers is too ****ing low.:flame:

This is entirely correct ... s far as we on the Lounge are concerned.

With the younger set, they probably have no awareness of what we consider as "correct" ways to wear a vest/waistcoat. I imagine their train of thought is "I'm wearing a vest now, vests are cool" to paraphrase Doctor Who regarding bow ties (or was that braces?)

Not that there's anything wrong with that

 

[Gin&Tonics]

I prefer to take a more, shall we say, generous approach.

I think there is a re-awakening happening among the young set (30 and below) regarding "classic men's attire", suits, sports coats, vests, bow ties, etc. but because there is a large generational gap in many cases, these young gents have nobody to guide them, and so they are left groping about in the sartorial outer darkness knowing somehow that vests, suits, etc are stylish, yet not knowing those subtle rules that make the style work, such as having your waistband disappear beneath the end of your vest. What they need is someone to show them the way, such as the esteemed gentlemen of the Fedora Lounge.

Sometimes, gentlemen, style must be arrived at through painful and tiny baby steps.

 

[Shangas]

As a veteran waistcoat wearer, as many on this forum will likely attest to...

My rules about waistcoats/vests are simple:

1. Don't wear a belt.
2. Have trousers with a decent rise.
3. Wear suspenders.
4. A good-fitting vest is one that doesn't crush your rib-cage when you sit down or bend over.
5. For that "period look", use period accessories. Suspenders/braces.
6. Keep your shirt tucked in. A vest worn with suspenders & trousers should overlap enough so that even an untucked shirt is unnoticeable (provided that it arrived by that way through movement of the body, and not through lack of attention to begin with)
7. A good waistcoat is there to keep you warm, provide extra pockets, and a splash of colour. It is not a corset. If you can't breathe, it's too small, you're too big, it shrank in the wash, or you just like fast food too much.

 

[AEF17]

What bothers me is that other younglings don't see the fault and buffonery involved in having one's shirt and belt exposed. I suppose some think it's edgy. I doubt that I would have the nerve to correct someone upon it, but if I ever heard a member of the fair sex extolling such a hideous look, I would quickly dis-abuse her of the notion that it is in the least correct. Yes, fine way to win them over.

 

[Succotash]

I'm usually quite irked by the gap between my generation's low rise skinny trousers or jeans and their vests but this evening I witnessed something I never thought I'd see.

The poor guy was wearing clip on braces OVER his vest. Has anyone witnessed that before?

 

[Shangas]

No, but once, my father suggested I try it out.

I can only assume that he was drunk.

 

[Succotash]

He wasn't drunk. He was an idiot.

 

[dnjan]

I'm usually quite irked by the gap between my generation's low rise skinny trousers or jeans and their vests but this evening I witnessed something I never thought I'd see.

The poor guy was wearing clip on braces OVER his vest. Has anyone witnessed that before?

Key phrase identified above.

 

[Oldsarge]

I prefer to take a more, shall we say, generous approach.

I think there is a re-awakening happening among the young set (30 and below) regarding "classic men's attire", suits, sports coats, vests, bow ties, etc. but because there is a large generational gap in many cases, these young gents have nobody to guide them, and so they are left groping about in the sartorial outer darkness knowing somehow that vests, suits, etc are stylish, yet not knowing those subtle rules that make the style work, such as having your waistband disappear beneath the end of your vest. What they need is someone to show them the way, such as the esteemed gentlemen of the Fedora Lounge.

Sometimes, gentlemen, style must be arrived at through painful and tiny baby steps.

This is unquestionably true!

 

[Shangas]

He wasn't drunk. He was an idiot.

He was certainly something. Crazy.

 

[John in Covina]

I'm usually quite irked by the gap between my generation's low rise skinny trousers or jeans and their vests but this evening I witnessed something I never thought I'd see. The poor guy was wearing clip on braces OVER his vest. Has anyone witnessed that before?

He was a masochist, it was an invitation to snap his suspenders.

 

[Vampyre Master]

This is entirely correct ... s far as we on the Lounge are concerned.

With the younger set, they probably have no awareness of what we consider as "correct" ways to wear a vest/waistcoat. I imagine their train of thought is "I'm wearing a vest now, vests are cool" to paraphrase Doctor Who regarding bow ties (or was that braces?)

Not that there's anything wrong with that

Fez's
VM