# Vests with lapels: Rules?



## yachtie (May 11, 2006)

What, if any, are the rules for vests (waistcoats, for our friends across the pond) with lapels? for example:

Should they match the lapel style of the jacket? notch/notch, peak/peak?
Seen shawl lapel vests, can't say I like them

Should the gorge have the same angle as the jacket (this sounds like a no brainer) 

Anything else?

Also are DB vests with a SB coat a no-no? (Are DB vests themselves a no-no as well?) 
Anyone with experience please chime in!:icon_smile_wink: 
Thanks


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## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

I think vests look nicest without lapels. I doubt this is any more than my personal preference, though.


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## manton (Jul 26, 2003)

1) Lapels on an SB vest are considered "country." Savile Row sticklers will discourage them on city suits.

2) DB vests tend to look better with lapels, though no lapels is not incorrect.

3) DB vests go with SB coats only; vests paired with DB coats should be SB, no lapels.

4) If an SB notch coat has a DB vest, the vest should be DB shawl; if the coat is SB peak, the DB vest can be shawl or peak.

5) If both coat and vest are SB, and if the vest has lapels, the lapel styles of coat and vest should match.

6) Peak lapels on an SB vest, while not incorrect, rarely looks good. Shawl on an SB vest looks even worse. (Not counting here a shawl formal vest with a low front.)

7) A "grown on" lapel with a roll is a nicer look, but "sewn on" is easier to make and thus more common; also, sewn on is less bulky and thus (some believe) lays better underneath a coat front.

8) An SB vest with no lapels goes with any style coat (excluding formal wear).


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## Will (Jun 15, 2004)

Vest lapels are somewhat broader than "country" in that they have respected antecedents when executed in flannel, and even worsted glen checks. 

A gray flannel suit is technically not city garb according to the old London Rules, though it is worn in the city during the week in North America. 

I like vest lapels when the suit has pocket flaps generally, but then I don't have pocket flaps on most of my city suits.


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## markgcb1 (Dec 19, 2005)

*Vest lapels*

If you get a chance look at some of the older black and white classice films on Turner Classic Movies(TCM). You will notice that men wore singlebreasted vests with double breasted suits, and double breasted vests with single breasted suits. To have lapels or go without lapels is a personal decision, as is whether to wear single or double breasted waistcoats.


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## yachtie (May 11, 2006)

*You're 2 for 2 Manton! One addl. question though.*

Thanks Manton, I'm buying your book! :icon_smile_big: For the bottom of these DB vests, either singlepoint or two points are okay?


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## Chuck Franke (Aug 8, 2003)

I like it..... Note - When I post these pics I am showing former inventory, not current... trying to help provide picture examples, not advertising.


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## Will (Jun 15, 2004)

The tie is very forties.


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## Holdfast (Oct 30, 2005)

manton said:


> 4) If an SB notch coat has a DB vest, the vest should be DB shawl


This is what I've chosen for my next suit. Bit of an experiment I thought; I don't usually wear a waistcoat but figured it would make it a bit warmer in winter and simply provide another option at other times. I wasn't sure if a DB shawl waistcoat would be too "out there" or not, so I'm delighted to hear there's a good precedent for it!


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## EL72 (May 25, 2005)

manton said:


> 1) Lapels on an SB vest are considered "country." Savile Row sticklers will discourage them on city suits.
> 
> 2) DB vests tend to look better with lapels, though no lapels is not incorrect.
> 
> ...


:crazy: Trying to process that just made me dizzy...

Perhaps you could provide a decision tree... :icon_smile_big:


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## Teacher (Mar 14, 2005)

I very much like lapels on vests. I would disagree with manton and say that a SB shawl-collared vest looks quite good in most situations, though I prefer a notch. I'd agree with everything else, particularly number 3, though I myself would pay no attention to number 1.


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## PJC in NoVa (Jan 23, 2005)

I'm gonna have to go see X-Men III again, b/c I could swear that Patrick Stewart wears a SB lapel vest w/ some of his terrific SB peak-lapel suits in that film, which means that the custome director needs to buy a copy of "The Suit" to avoid this kind of sartorical solecism in the future.

I have a number of brown and tan SB suede vests, most w/ lapels but one w/out, that I favor for wear with tweed jackets in the colder months. I get compliments on them a lot. Sometimes I team them with a rounded "club" collar shirt and a bow tie for a look of real _retro-sartorialismo,_ if that's a word.


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