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Fashion Shirts

Layering Vests and Shirts

purple and white houndstooth shirt

So I wore this really stylish combination at work today and I figured: why not talk about it?

Layering is a big unknown for most guys. It’s a fancy name to something we already know how to do. Today I want to talk about one of those ways, and a really easy one at that. Plus, at the end you’ll get a more advanced tip to really make this type of layering shine.

You will need:

1. A business/dress shirt
2. A sleeveless vest (not a waistcoat)
3. A jacket or blazer
4. a secret accessory whose identity won’t be revealed until the end.

I’m not being secretive just to keep you interested. I first want to make sure you learn how to layer the vest properly. Adding that particular accessory at the end is gonna be a piece of cake.

Let’s start off with…

The Shirt

If you don’t yet have at least 2 or 3 quality cotton shirts to choose from, I strongly suggest you get some right now.

A solid white shirt will do but you can also mess around with prints such as stripes, checks or houndstooth.

I wore a purple and white houndstooth shirt myself, which constituted the innermost layer of my outfit. Here’s a close-up of the print:

The Vest

A wool vest will keep your back warm during autumn and spring and will be the second layer of your outfit.

In my case, I chose this simple white vest (the photo includes a purple polo shirt, not the actual business shirt, though):

Can you guess why I chose it? That’s right, it repeats the white on the dress shirt. Color repetition is crucial when you’re layering, just as long as you don’t overdo it.

The jacket

Although I wore this outfit at work, I broke the rules a little and, as my third layer, I chose a classic leather jacket instead of something more businessy, such as a sports jacket.

One thing about the leather jacket is that it matched the thin black stripes on the vest I forgot to mention. It looks like this (again, out of context as I don’t have a pohot of the full outfit I wore):

And that’s all there is to it. You have 3 layers, all comprised of garments you have or should have in your closet.

The secret ingredient

In my case, it was the tie. I chose a solid purple slim tie, that matched the purple on the shirt. That one particular detail made all the difference in the world.

The tie isn’t a layer, obviously, but it is a great finishing touch. Remember that, if you’ll be wearing a vest, you won’t see it all of it, mostly the knot.

George Lavas

George is dedicated to fashion and style for men. Based in the UK, George enjoys writing about lifestyle and fashion from both sides of the pond. George created BeStylish.org to help readers create a strong sense of style with minimum effort believing that everyone can look and feel good, all day, every day.

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