Should You Wear a Vest without A Suit Jacket?

The Suit Vest… You’ve seen it before on SuitUpp. Traditionally, you’d expect to see this glorious article of clothing worn with a suit jacket – thereby making the outfit live in accordance with its association to the 3 piece suit. However, as Hollywood has begun to show us, wearing the vest without the jacket not only is a possibility but embodies a unique style portraying youth, ambition, and an unwavering progression towards success. Take for example Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd:

or how about Brad Pitt in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”:

Still not convinced? How about George Clooney in the “Leatherheads”:

The vest has a number of practical benefits besides being stylish. Putting your cell phone in your vest will allow you to feel the vibrations (when it’s set on silent of course) whereas leaving it in your suit jacket might not accomplish the same thing. The vest can also be beneficial to the gym-going crowd as it portrays one’s body a lot more explicitly than an all-engulfing suit jacket (ok, ok, we tried to make the jacket sound a little evil in that last sentence… but, hopefully you get the point).

Back in the day, the vest served the pocket-watch wearing crowd quite well. Ever since the wrist-watch, the vest along with the 3-piece suit have been associated with more formality.  The vest will allow you to express a youthful and casual formality that can’t quite be exhibited with other attire. So the next time you buy a 3 piece suit, you’ll be buying more than just one outfit but a plethora of styles for a multitude of occasions.