Yesterday's Tommy Nutter postage stamp reminded me that there was a time around forty years ago when Mick Jagger was taking direction (from Nutter's shop) and looked very good in a Savile Row rock and roll dandy kind of way. I would place him in that period ahead of a contemporary like Bryan Ferry today, for example, and that is not small praise. And that is relevant because today the younger Mr. Jagger is giving us another demonstration of one of my favorite accessories, the cream colored waistcoat, worn with a striped gray or blue suit.
What I like best about the cream waistcoat is that, in the context of the cream colored stripes on a suit, it is elegant without standing out - barely more visible than a white shirt in the same circumstances. And donning one is another way to dress a business suit up for cocktails or an opening without going home to change.
This being the beginning of warm weather in the Northern Hemisphere, some might question the utility of the waistcoat at this time of year. And for them I have only one word: linen. For temperate evenings the linen waistcoat atop a tropical or mid-weight suit is a comfortable pairing that adds considerably to one's style points for the evening. And even at an event full of suits you are unlikely to see another one.
Photo: Terry O'Neill/Getty Images
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5 comments:
Dove grey and even white are also good to my mind; it depends on the stripes!
Another thing to put on the wish list.
I wasn't aware that a cream waistcoat is appropriate to wear in the evening. I guess I always just thought of it as a part of morning dress and thus only for adding to a lounge suit during the day.
Cocktails and openings are what Hardy Amies called late afternoon dress and day wear is fine.
I'm tempted. I'm visting London in a couple of weeks and I'll take a look at some cream colored vests at Favorbrook, Ede etc. to wear with blue or grey suits.
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