Placing a value on Vents

[slaavwmr]

Can you put a value on Side-Vents.

2 suits. Same suit. One has vents, one doesn't. Can one place a value on the side-vents. $50, $100, $150. At what point is it not worth it anymore.

Or, is it too personal of a decision that a value can't be placed.

 

[LA Guy]

Or, is it too personal of a decision that a value can't be placed.

Definitely. Personally, I am becoming quite sick of side vents.

 

[STYLESTUDENT]

My Barbera sport jackets usually have side vents but I just bought a Barbera jacket from A Harris that has no vents at all. The absence of vents bothers me not in the least. Again, a subjective "issue".

 

[lisapop]

Side vents complicate a proper fit as there is a tendency for side vents to open due to the proportions of one's backside and hips. For a ready-made or MTM garment, I'd avoid side vents for this reason. Even with a custom-made garment, executing side vents properly can be difficult. Several London tailors I've used in the past have tried and failed. Better to not take a chance and go with a center vent.
Grayson

 

[imageWIS]

I really love side vents. The way they fall on the side, the way they move whilst walking. I don't like the view of a certain extremity shown when hands are firmly inserted into pockets on a single vent jacket. Plus the way it comes apart is eerily similar to that of a curtain lifting. No vent jackets are good for black tie formal wear.

Jon.

 

[dorian]

I value you side vents so highly that I simply will not purchase a suit or sportcoat without them.

 

[johnnynorman3]

Funny to hear LA Guy saying he's tired of double vents.

Here's my take. I used to like no vents due to the more streamlined appearance. I now will no longer buy unvented suits due to the fact that (1) I like putting my hands in my pockets, (2) due to the curvature of my lower back I can only get a really precise fit there when I have a vented coat, and (3) I like the casual elegance of a well cut vent. In my opinion, there is nothing like a well cut double vent. However, -- and here is where I agree with LA Guy -- on a cheap suit a double vent makes it look even cheaper. Sort of like the suit saying (if it could talk), "I'm trying hard not to be cheap and trying to be hip, but I'm really just a poser."

I guess I'd put a near infinite price on the presence of a vent. If a suit has double vents, I'm willing to pay a 15% premium. But I think the most important thing is realizing that the vents are a detail of the suit. Just as a skinny lapel does not work on an Oxxford suit, a double vent would look quite out of place on my Manhattan model Oxxford suit. It just doesn't go with the shoulder cut, the button stance, etc. Everything must be working in tandem.

In the end, a double vent can't overcome a silhouette that I don't care for.

 

[bryce330]

I would pay a small premium, maybe up to 20%, for a double-vented suit over an unvented suit.

The premium for a double-vented over a single-vented, however, is infinite since I will not buy a single-vented suit or jacket.

 

[Manton]

The premium for a double-vented over a single-vented, however, is infinite since I will not buy a single-vented suit or jacket.

I'm with you on this one.

Getting side vents right is largely a matter of back balance, which has a lot to do with your shoulder blades.  There has to be enough cloth to get around those blades without pulling, otherwise the vents will always "pop".  This is not so hard to do if you cut the coat as big as a tent.  But if you want it to have some shape and a clean back, it is quite difficult indeed.

 

[bengal-stripe]

Side vents complicate a proper fit as there is a tendency for side vents to open due to the proportions of one's backside and hips......Better to not take a chance and go with a center vent.

A single vent is even more difficult to get right. A single vent should hang down straight, just like a plumb line. If the coat has too much waist and the wearer has too much of a backside, it will cause the vent to gap. If the vent is 2" out of the true, that will be very noticeable.

On a double vent these 2" will be 1" on either side, additional, as the vents flare out triangular these gaps will be far less noticeable than on a single vent. Of course, sometimes you see people where the coat is so tight and the butt so big that the material is draped over the butt like a blanket over an upholstered settee.

Double vent on suits is relatively new invention and did not come into common usage until the early 60s (the vents were very short than). Vents on double-breasted suits were introduced even later. A Tuxedo should still have a plain back (no vents).

Vents, like all the other design features on suits are subject to fluctuations in popularity.

 

[Buster]

When someone knows that he has the habit of standing with his hands in his pockets - he CANNOT allow himself to have a single-vented jacket. As ridiculous as it gets.

B

 

[matadorpoeta]

i think la guys objection to side vents is a visual one. he's sick of seeing them. however, we must remember that they are the most practical, and therefore, will never go out of style for those of us who sit in chairs or put our hands in our pockets.

 

[Manton]

Double vent on suits is relatively new invention and did not come into common usage until the early 60s (the vents were very short than). Vents on double-breasted suits were introduced even later.

I have often wondered about this. In old movies, with a lot SR dressed stars, you don't see any vents. Maybe a center vent on a Norfolk jacket. But never on a lounge jacket. A book I recently acquired which displays a lot of SR patterns from the 1930s also clearly shows that the coats were made with no vents. I wonder how side vents got started, and who first popularized them? Nowadays, they are almost de riguer on the Row. It's easy to just assume that they were always there, but it ain't so.

 

[FIHTies]

Gotta be worth something significant. I was in the middle of an email conversation about a suit I have that someone was rather interested in and then he poped the question, single or double. When I told him single he never got back to me as if I had offended him in some special way.

 

[montecristo#4]

The premium for a double-vented over a single-vented, however, is infinite since I will not buy a single-vented suit or jacket.

I couldn't agree more. I hate single vents. I feel like ****** is exposed to the open air when I'm wearing one.

The only single vented jackets I have are cordoroy, and even then I've sewn them shut at the bottom so they are really just "faux" single vent.