Waistcoats

The third piece, or a separate

A matching waistcoat turns a two-piece into a three-piece. It reads more formal, it holds the shirt flat, and it means the jacket can come off at a long event without the whole outfit collapsing into shirtsleeves. It is cut from the same cloth in the same order, so the colour matches exactly — which sounds obvious and is the thing that goes wrong when one is added a year later.

An odd waistcoat is a different proposition. In a contrasting cloth — a linen, a check, a flannel for somewhere colder — it is a separate that pairs with jackets and trousers you already own and does far more work per year than a matching one ever will.

• Matching: ordered with the suit, same cloth, same cut
• Odd: contrasting cloth, chosen to work with several things
• Single or double breasted, with or without lapels
• Five or six buttons, and the bottom one left undone either way

The back, and why it is usually not the same cloth

The convention is a lining-cloth back with an adjustable buckle, and it exists for two good reasons: the back is invisible under a jacket, and a full-cloth back is warm. In Bangkok the second reason does most of the arguing.

The exception is a waistcoat you intend to wear without a jacket, at which point the back becomes visible and a self-backed waistcoat looks considerably better. That is a decision to make out loud at the first appointment rather than a default to inherit.

Where the fit is actually decided

A waistcoat has two jobs and they pull against each other: sit close enough not to billow, and stay long enough that no shirt shows above the trousers when you move. The second is the one that fails.

It fails because a waistcoat measured on its own is measured against nothing. The length that works depends on where your trousers sit, so it is taken against the trousers it will be worn with — which is straightforward when both are being made and is the reason a waistcoat added later needs the original trousers in the room. More on how those numbers are taken inhow we take your measurements.

Cloth, in this climate

A waistcoat is an extra layer over the torso and it will be warmer than not wearing one. The way to make that bearable is not a thinner cloth so much as an open weave and a lining back, and for an odd waistcoat, linen or a high-twist wool rather than anything dense and smooth. The full argument is on cloth and construction.

Weddings, which is when most of these are ordered

Three-piece is the usual request for a groom, and matching waistcoats across a party is the usual request after that. Order them together — the same cloth cut at the same time is the only reliable way to get the colour to hold across several garments. More onwedding suits.

What else is under separates

Blazers for the jacket half of the same wardrobe, and overcoats for somewhere colder than this. How the appointments run is onhow a fitting works, and we come to you — see where we come to you.

Common questions

Where can I find custom-made suits in Bangkok?

You do not have to find them — we come to you. The Boss Tailor fits custom suits and waistcoats at your hotel, office or home anywhere in Bangkok, bringing the cloth and the bunch books with us. The more useful question when you are comparing is how the garment is built: ask whether the jacket is canvassed or fused, and whether you will see it half-made before it is finished.

Who are the best tailors in Bangkok?

Nobody who answers that question about themselves should be believed, including us. What you can check without taking anyone’s word: how the jacket is constructed, whether a fitting happens while the garment is still half-made, and whether the pattern is drafted for you or adjusted from a stock block. Those three answers separate this market faster than any ranking does.

Does a waistcoat have to match the suit?

No, and the two options are genuinely different garments. A matching waistcoat makes a three-piece suit and reads formal, coherent and slightly traditional. An odd waistcoat in a contrasting cloth is a separate that does quite different work, pairing with jackets and trousers you already own. Decide which one you want before the cloth is chosen, because it changes the choice.

What is the back of a waistcoat made from?

Traditionally lining cloth with an adjustable buckle, because the back is never seen under a jacket and a lighter back is cooler to wear. In this climate that convention earns its keep. A waistcoat backed in the same cloth as the front looks better worn alone without a jacket and is noticeably warmer, so the answer depends on whether you intend to take the jacket off.

How should a waistcoat fit?

Close enough that it does not billow when you move, long enough that no shirt shows between its lowest point and the waistband of the trousers. That gap is the single most common fault and it is a measuring problem rather than a styling one, which is why the waistcoat is measured against the trousers it will be worn with rather than on its own.