Vest Dressed

The best way to wear a tailored vest right now is with nothing under it. Button it up, pair it with the trousers it came with or a straight jean, and it works as a top that looks like you made an effort.

In colder weeks the same vest goes over a fine knit or a white shirt, and suddenly a plain outfit looks put together.

I have kept this to solid tailored styles first and then pinstripes, because those two cover almost every way people are wearing them.

Brown and charcoal wool, a deep plum velvet, black with a tuxedo edge. Look for a vest that ends right at the top of your trousers; anything shorter starts to read as a crop top, anything longer as a tunic.

The longline black style and the navy wrap front are the easiest to wear over jeans, and the velvet one is my pick for the holidays.

What I check: the armholes. Lift your arms. If you can see your bra from the side, it needs a layer under it or a smaller size.

What I would skip: thin, shiny suiting fabric. It creases at the waist within an hour and never looks pressed again.

Pinstripes make a vest look like it belongs to a real suit, even when you wear it with jeans.

Buy the matching trouser if you want the full look, or wear the vest alone with dark denim and loafers for a weekend version.

Try it on first: check that the stripes line up at the button placket. When they jog, the whole vest looks cheap.

Pass on any vest where the stripe is printed rather than woven. It flattens out and looks like a costume up close.

Start with the vest and its matching trouser, add a long coat and a flat shoe. Next time swap the trouser for jeans. It will feel like two different outfits.