Opinions on waistcoats?

OU812

Dress smart casual in work, button down casual shirt, dark non ripped/worn jeans or chinos, converse/vans

Been thinking of adding a plain black waistcoat to the mix… opinions?

Affectation or fashion forward?

ExoPolitic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058325792/opinions-on-waistcoats

Very 2010's

Cyrus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058325792/opinions-on-waistcoats

an actual waistcoat like youd wear with a suit or a finance bro gilet?

sprucemoose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121458210#Comment_121458210

either way the answer should be no

NIMAN

Looks good on Joe Duffy.

OU812

And that’s just the answers I was after 😂

Trondheim

Gareth Southgate rocked that look very successfully.

Larbre34

Gareth Southgate was forced to by the England Men's apparel sponsor.

If you'd like to look like my girlfriend from 1993, go for the waistcoat. Maybe get a nice paisley blouse to finish out the look.

Waistcoats have a few approved uses:

a) As part of a tailored 3-piece suit or Tuxedo.

b) If you're waiting tables

c) If you're appearing on stage, as part of a male chorus in a local amateur musical theatre performance

or

d) If you're a pikey attending the Grand National festival at Aintree and fancy yourself as Arthur Shelby.

Honestly man. if I was finishing off the outfit you describe, I'd pick up a light tailored blazer or sport coat. And definitely not in black.

Strumms

even the snooker players don’t bother wearing them anymore…

this I’d prefer…

https://www.next.ie/en/style/st290136/672600#672600

Cyrus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121709192#Comment_121709192

just make sure the sleeves are the correct length unlike the guy in the picture 😁

actually everything about that blazer is short

Trondheim

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121709192#Comment_121709192

So am i wrong to wear two pieces of a three-piece suit (trousers + waistcoat) as a smart-casual look?

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121711425#Comment_121711425

Why would you want to?

Trondheim

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121711499#Comment_121711499

I thought it looked good!

left_hander

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121711425#Comment_121711425

Full duck or no dinner - you either go full Jacob Rees-Mogg or go home........

Irish_wolf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121738122#Comment_121738122

I'm gonna go slightly against the grain here and say if you think you can pull off the look then go for it and screw the haters, it definitely fits just inside the smart end of smart-casual if you do it the way you've described. Go wild with different colour schemes and develop it as your own style, stand out from the crowd. Although, take my advice with a pinch of salt as I'm one of those long haired beardy types that loves seeing people develop their own style (even if it is crap), too many Irish lads are afraid to deviate from the norm for fear of the ridicule they are absolutely guaranteed to receive if they do (although sometimes rightly so). I expect the first day you wear this particular combo you'll be subject to several variations of "Off to Leopardstown?", "Rest of the suit in the cleaners?", or "When's the wedding?" etc. But that will fade and eventually just become your look, especially if you own it and make it look good.

Gareth Southgate definitely rocked a similar style but he had dress shoes and a tie on so was definitely not in the smart-casual sphere of office fashion. If you have a real hankering to add a waistcoat to your daily look I'd abandon the casual part myself and go full smart (as previous posters suggest) but you do you man, let us know how ye get on.

Trondheim

I feel like i've hijacked the thread now, so apologies to the OP.

I started wearing this around 2020. I attend a lot of European meetings, where everybody looks a bit unusual and nobody makes any comments (apart from a colleague from the UK that called me Gareth Southgate). In Ireland, it got a lot of comments, mainly along the lines that @Irish_wolf mentioned (what happened the jacket etc.), but i don't really mind that. It can be good to stand out a bit. Just for clarity, i wore it with suit shoes, tie, tie clip etc. It was part of a three piece, so the waistcoat was the same colour as the trousers (and the jacket that i didn't wear). So maybe not smart-casual, more "formal, but not too warm"!!

I only wore it at occasions where i would normally wear a suit, and then when Covid struck there was no opportunity. I never got back into it, and TBH, if i was to go back to it now, i would either need to lose a bit of weight or buy a new suit. A waistcoat that doesn't fit is a very bad look!