We love Gareth Southgate in this parish. By which I mean in fashion, not just in this newspaper.
There’s that, too, of course, what with the much better football and a non-toxic masculinity to go with it, but Southgate has done more than that. He gave fashion the waistcoat back. It even plays a starring role on stage in James Graham’s new play, Dear England.
In the four decades between Diane Keaton’s Annie Hall waistcoat and the giddy days of believing Southgate was bringing it home, the waistcoat languished on the bench. Waistcoats were for snooker tournaments and hotel concierge desks. They were for best men and magicians and ticket inspectors.
Waistcoats were never completely banished from our wardrobes, but they weren’t exactly in the thick of things either. Waistcoats were supposed to be formal, but you could never quite take them seriously.
Waistcoats were a bit of a joke for a while back there, but now they are actually quite cool. When Bella Hadid wore one with ultra low-rise trousers in Stella McCartney’s Paris catwalk show last October, it was the trousers that made the fashion headlines, but it was the waistcoat that women adopted as a look. Jodie Comer has made them a red-carpet signature look.
The waistcoat isn’t just one new look though, it is two new looks in one. It is a look worn on its own, with nothing (or just a bra) underneath; and it gives a new spin worn over a shirt and matching trousers. As a standalone top, it is (more than anything else) this summer’s natural heir to Wearing a White Vest, which you will remember was a Big Thing last year.
With its minimal torso coverage and simple, scooped-neck shape, the waistcoat has a similar silhouette to a classic vest. But it is actually easier to wear. The white vest is one of those pieces of clothing which can easily miss the mark of looking elegantly understated and end up looking blah, unless you are scrupulous about making the rest of you look ultra-polished with blow-dried hair and immaculate makeup and interesting accessories, at which point I can’t help feeling that it would be a lot easier just to put on a smart top and be done with it.
A waistcoat worn on its own, however, buttoned up as a sleeveless top, is the kind of slightly unusual look that people notice, which means they will register you as having made an effort. (If you doubt me that a waistcoat with nothing underneath is a good look, look up Kate Moss Glastonbury 2005 on Google images. See?)
What’s more – and I do love a twofer, don’t you? – a waistcoat can also sub in for a jacket over shirt and trousers, when the weather doesn’t call for a structured top layer but your look could do with it. I find that a shirt and trousers is one of those outfits that can seem polished and smart in my head, but often irritatingly less so when I look in the mirror.
If you are not broad shouldered and leggy (and I am neither), a shirt and trousers can read as vague and crumpled when you were aiming for dynamic and sharp. A waistcoat over the top gives visual structure, with no loss of cool or comfort, since you don’t need to do up the buttons.
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My other top tip on this subject: always, always iron a crease down the front of your trousers. I hate ironing with a passion but this is the one ironing job I never skip, because it really makes a difference.
You don’t need me to tell you how to iron, but it’s best to do it inside out, too. Trust me on this. Try it. What have you got to lose? You will be pleased you did. But don’t thank me, thank Gareth.
Hair and makeup: Carol Morley at Carol Hayes Management. Model: Aster at Body London. Waistcoat and trousers: Nobody’s Child. Earrings and necklace: Ottoman Hands
