In defence of the vest

I have been fond of vests ever since those plain white cotton ones we wore for primary school athletics in the long ago and mythically hot summers of the mid-1970s. No other garment in the male warm weather wardrobe is quite the same. A T-shirt isn’t as breathable, while a loose linen shirt even half unbuttoned doesn’t allow the cooling air to play around the shoulders in the same way. And neither allow you to catch the sun on your skin so pleasingly. They only really come into play in high summer: you wouldn’t attempt one in May or September. But for July and August, when, in a good year, the temperature consistently gets into the thirties, if paired with cotton shorts and flip flops or sliders, they are about as stripped back as the male wardrobe gets away from a beach.

I wouldn’t wear one to Glyndebourne, a court appearance or a job interview, but otherwise I have long found them pleasing informal summer attire – and stylish in their own way.