Waistcoats and Watch Fobs...

[MrDaniels]

Do you all remember the Late 70s/ Early 80s three-piece era when it seemed that many of the men would not wear the look unless it was completed by a chain going from the buttonhole to the lower welt pocket? I see that Lauren is trying to bring the look back this Fall:

What sayeth the Formal Faithful? A nice detail? Ostentatious? Tacky? Slick? Retro?

 

[GoldenTribe]

I've been seeing chains and similar accessories popping up on menswear items (running the gamut from tacky $50 mall-brand streetwear to prohibitively expensive Viktor & Rolf jackets) for the last few seasons so I wouldn't say it's new this season or credit RL with its revival, but I'm partial to it.

Girls have had a monopoly on everything except black-and-white minimalism for far too long.

 

[voxsartoria]

Watch chain going through vest buttonhole = pleb.


- B

 

[bowtielover]

I do remember this, my father was a frequenter of this look. I have done this occasonaly but not all the time.

 

[amplifiedheat]

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

Watch chain going through vest buttonhole = pleb.

Watch chain going through fly=money.

 

[MrDaniels]

Didn't the suits back then actually come with a faux fob?

 

[Despos]

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

Watch chain going through vest buttonhole = pleb.


- B

Client has his grandfather's pocket watch and wanted to wear it with a vest as in the picture. The end of the chain has a "T" type bar on it. He asked me what to do with the T bar part. I am not 100% sure. What is the correct way to wear this chain?

 

[George]

Originally Posted by Despos

Client has his grandfather's pocket watch and wanted to wear it with a vest as in the picture. The end of the chain has a "T" type bar on it. He asked me what to do with the T bar part. I am not 100% sure. What is the correct way to wear this chain?
There's usually a 'button' hole cut horizontally in the waistcoat, I can't remember which button's it lies in-between though. I have a few waistcoats with these. My tailor put in automatically (he's old school) even though I don't wear a fob watch and hence never requested it. I can't check them as they're at my other place. The other way is to put the T-bar through the buttonhole in the lapel and drop the fob watch into the breast pocket of the coat. That looks [more] affected to me.

 

[MrDaniels]

There was a trend in the 90s of putting the watch in the breast pocket and putting the T-bar of the chain through the lapel hole.

 

[George]

The problem with this look is that it's anachronistic. Fob watches belong to a different age in my opinion.

Fair play if you can carry it off though.

 

[Svenn]

Ostentatious. IMHO a three-piece should only be worn when the jacket is buttoned, and the waistcoat only then just peeking above the jacket a few cm... unbuttoned three-pieces or going jacketless with a waistcoat is only reserved to men over 65.

 

[comrade]

Originally Posted by MrDaniels

Didn't the suits back then actually come with a faux fob?

No.

 

[George]

Originally Posted by Svenn

Ostentatious. IMHO a three-piece should only be worn when the jacket is buttoned, and the waistcoat only then just peeking above the jacket a few cm... unbuttoned three-pieces or going jacketless with a waistcoat is only reserved to men over 65.
No, you don't button the coat on a 3 piece.

 

[LabelKing]

I've attached a small digital camera to the end of an antique sterling or gold watch-chain when wearing my three-piece.

 

[howardu09]

A bit tacky IMO. It takes away from the suit.