Down vests over suit coats

[JayJay]

^^^Looks like what a student who doesn't have an appropriate overcoat would wear.

 

[luftvier]

Originally Posted by Lovellum

I believe the classic advice is that your clothing should get longer as the layers add up - shirt, suit, overcoat/other long coat. Throwing a puffer vest atop a suit jacket ruins a good bit of the initial attraction of a suit, methinks.

Edit:

However, I think this looks wonderful, provided you stay with the casual aspect (see graphic sweater and boots).

Not this.

It looks like a homeless guy hit up a Salvation army.

 

[Lovellum]

Please elaborate; what part of the outfit (shirt, sweater, single breasted 2 button suit, brown belt, matching boots, and fitted cream-colored puffer jacket) exactly screams "homeless guy?" It certainly isn't the most elegant look, not by far. But as others have agreed, a young person could pull it off while still being worlds apart sartorially from his peers.

 

[MyOtherLife]

Respectfully, they may well be doing this look in Italy, but to quote a line from an old movie,
'Who's worse..the fool, or the fool that follows?'
It is 100% sartorial sacrilege. It completely undermines the elegance of a suit.

 

[aj_del]

Would it be OK if the down vest is worn with a SC instead of a suit.

I think in the pic in the OP the vest is worn over a SC and jeans.

 

[83glt]

Why does this sort of thing happen? Why do people ruin something (e.g., the look of a smartly dressed man) by coming up with a 'new' look that actually looks insanely ridiculous and clownish, just to be 'different'? Why does this happen? I don't think this is a fashion thing. It's like Uggs. It's repugnant. I don't consider myself a traditionalist snob either. I just think that certain looks are marsupialed, and people see a few marsupials displaying these marsupialed looks and the next thing you have are flocks of marsupials wearing a marsupialed look. Why does this happen? Is it the same thing as marsupialed people driving 60 mph in the fast lane? Why?

 

[MyOtherLife]

Originally Posted by aj_del

Would it be OK if the down vest is worn with a SC instead of a suit. I think in the pic in the OP the vest is worn over a SC and jeans.
Trying to find a way to support the idea in fairness... Over a tweed SC it just may work. At a glance the tweed might give the same effect as a sweater. To be fair, maybe this is one possibility...add a scarf & cap...possibly driving gloves. I may just give this a chance myself if I experiment.

 

[johnny_flapjack]

Originally Posted by bowtielover

Don't do it, i'm surprised someone hasn't been shot for this.

I hear one man actually was, but the bullet lodged in the down and he walked away unharmed...

Originally Posted by chestercopperpot

i think vest over the suit looks great. i have penfield vest that i wear over my flannel suits when its cold and it looks great. also the majority of my trips to milan and florence in the winter i've seen this look by the italians. though the ones they have have breast pockets. thank goodness i havn't seen a pocket square in one of them though. HA

so yes, don't mind the haters on this thread. go for it sir. each his own.

I don't get this. It's ok, but a PS would be over the top? People on this forum argue that the only purpose of the breast pocket is to hold a pocket square, so why have the pocket if you're not going to adorn it properly? In my opinion the PS is not the thing that pushes the look into the land of the odd. I think it goes wrong at the start.

 

[A.L.Z.]

Originally Posted by LeonM

Italians have been doing this for years, wearing down vests/ padded gilets/ bodywarmers over suit coats/jackets.

I always thought it looked silly but seeing it a lot, i am changing my mind.

Should i get one?

Leon


I know what you are talking about, and yes, Italian men do this quite a lot. I saw this everywhere when i was in Napoli and Roma last year.

Why do they do this: Because italians ride their Vespe and motorcycles a lot! It is usually their motorcycle jacket. It is for practicality more than anything else. Having said that, the people who wear this do it because they don't have a proper overcoat. Having a car in Southern Italy, versus a motorcycle or scooter as your primary mode of transport, is a big status symbol!

Now, there is a different look of wearing the sleeveless gilet over a shirt/sweater....Italian guys of "higher class" do this a lot for a cool weekend look, and it works really nicely IMO. Especially when the gorgeous girls on the guy's arm run their hands down the guy's cashmere-sweater covered arms...I saw this a lot in Milano and Roma.

An aside on the way Italians dress: It is totally natural for them to dress well. When i was going to visit some family there, my mother gave me the third degree to make sure I took "decent" clothes, out of respect for that country more than anything else.

Even when dressed well, they still scamper around the fish markets stepping on filth, walk in the sand on the beach in Gucci suede loafers, then take these loafers off to go for a dip, then come back and dust the sand off their feet and put them back on....etc. It's a very organic existence with nice clothes--as if they are part of their body.

It's very different for us in north america IMO...where I wouldn't even wear suede shoes if it was raining...forget walking about a slimy, wet, floor covered with dripping water fish market trying to pick out the best cozze for dinner.....

 

[aj_del]

Even more examples of vests/ jackets over SC. All from Cucinelli

 

[incastoutcast]

Originally Posted by Lovellum

Please elaborate; what part of the outfit (shirt, sweater, single breasted 2 button suit, brown belt, matching boots, and fitted cream-colored puffer jacket) exactly screams "homeless guy?" It certainly isn't the most elegant look, not by far. But as others have agreed, a young person could pull it off while still being worlds apart sartorially from his peers.

I think this is part of the problem - I don't see any puffer jacket as "fitted" - it's called "puffer" for a reason. It may fit tightly, but it looks bulky.

Besides that, I think the materials clash, IMO.

But I think I've expressed my distaste clearly enough. If you want to dress just to "pull it off" that's your choice.

Peter

 

[negusnegas]

It's pretty interesting how dogmatic people can become on the forum. If the vest fits well, I don't see a problem with it. I live in New York and I do ride my bicyle sometimes in a suit and sometimes in a sports coat and I found that the vest was perfect in that I kept me just warm enough and it had the kind of freedom and range of motion that a full jacket just wouldn't provide. But once again that's just me.

 

[Scoundrel]

Whoever actually bought that $1,200 BB down coat to wear with one's suit totally failed

C'mon, new down coats and vests can be had for $80 (each)!

 

[LeonM]

The sleeveless down vests look 100% better than the puffa jackets, over the coat.

Leon

 

[Trilby]

I'm with Leon that the sleeveless vests look a whole lot better than the down jackets - but I still can't imagine ever wearing such a thing. On the other hand, I often wear a Barbour jacket over a suit.