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Suit vests of one fabric (no silk/polyester back)?

bluesmandan

A-List Customer
Messages
303
Location
United States
I'm wondering about suit vests that are of one fabric style and don't have that polyester back. Many times i find myself wearing a suit but removing the jacket and just wearing the vest, but i hate the look of that polyester back. Any options out there for a suit with vest that doesn't have that back but is all one kind of suit fabric?


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Dirk Wainscotting

A-List Customer
Messages
354
Location
Irgendwo
The backs of waistcoats are not specifically 'polyester'; it is lining that could be made of viscose (bemberg in older suits), cotton or silk. The use of lining for the back is to reduce bulk under the jacket, and (traditionally) because the jacket hardly came off and so it wasn't worth using cloth for a part hardly anyone would see. Nearly all suit waistcoats simply follow that standard.

If you want a waistcoat that matches your suit and has a full cloth back, you'll likely have to get it made. If you wear a contrasting waistcoat you could easily just buy (or have made) a waistcoat with a cloth back. The ones sold to be worn 'casually' now often have cloth backs rather than lining.
 

Edward

Bartender
Messages
25,081
Location
London, UK
Yes, the only waistcoats I've ever seen with a back of the same cloth (lined as the front) are modern, fashion examples, designed to be worn in warmer weather in place of a jacket. Most of them these days seem to have three pockets (two towards the bottom, one breast) and are usually displayed in the storefronts with a pocket square.
 

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