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| Waistcoats are amazing – and not just because of Gareth Southgate | Waistcoats are amazing – and not just because of Gareth Southgate |
| (5 months later) | |
| Suddenly, the country is taking notice of the waistcoat. One man’s waistcoat in particular, but now everyone wants one. Well, maybe not everyone, but Marks & Spencer is reporting a 35% surge in waistcoat sales, and we all know why. | Suddenly, the country is taking notice of the waistcoat. One man’s waistcoat in particular, but now everyone wants one. Well, maybe not everyone, but Marks & Spencer is reporting a 35% surge in waistcoat sales, and we all know why. |
| I have mixed feelings about this. I have been a fan of the waistcoat for more than 20 years now, ever since a trip to Nepal, when I saw a dazzling array of waistcoats and decided I had to have one. They’re very popular on the subcontinent – and as apparently the garment’s origins are from round the corner, in Persia, this is somehow fitting. | I have mixed feelings about this. I have been a fan of the waistcoat for more than 20 years now, ever since a trip to Nepal, when I saw a dazzling array of waistcoats and decided I had to have one. They’re very popular on the subcontinent – and as apparently the garment’s origins are from round the corner, in Persia, this is somehow fitting. |
| Waistcoat sales up as Gareth Southgate sets trend at World Cup | |
| Which is what waistcoats do very well. It’s quite clever how they do this, considering that they’re meant to be tight around the torso. But they are forgiving; because – and here’s the clever bit – you can either have them done up, or undone. | Which is what waistcoats do very well. It’s quite clever how they do this, considering that they’re meant to be tight around the torso. But they are forgiving; because – and here’s the clever bit – you can either have them done up, or undone. |
| The tradition of leaving the bottom button undone is said to have been started in emulation of Edward VII, who was too fat to do them all up. The England manager, Gareth Southgate, doesn’t do this, and this is important, because the waistcoat has an astonishing ability to both underline and erase class distinctions. | The tradition of leaving the bottom button undone is said to have been started in emulation of Edward VII, who was too fat to do them all up. The England manager, Gareth Southgate, doesn’t do this, and this is important, because the waistcoat has an astonishing ability to both underline and erase class distinctions. |
| The garment may belong to the three-piece suits of the elite, and the fancy uniforms of Etonians (that ultra-smarmy set within a set of Etonians known as “Pop” are allowed considerable latitude in the design of their waistcoats, and they strut like peacocks in them), but they also belong to the working class, to snooker players, honky-tonk piano players, and cowboys. Just as they operate in a liminal space between the shirt and the jacket, so they exist in an ambivalent place between classes. (Yes, I know this will get me into Pseuds Corner in Private Eye, but it doesn’t mean what I have said is actually untrue.) | The garment may belong to the three-piece suits of the elite, and the fancy uniforms of Etonians (that ultra-smarmy set within a set of Etonians known as “Pop” are allowed considerable latitude in the design of their waistcoats, and they strut like peacocks in them), but they also belong to the working class, to snooker players, honky-tonk piano players, and cowboys. Just as they operate in a liminal space between the shirt and the jacket, so they exist in an ambivalent place between classes. (Yes, I know this will get me into Pseuds Corner in Private Eye, but it doesn’t mean what I have said is actually untrue.) |
| Wearing a waistcoat without a jacket is, of course, the best way to wear one. It signifies that one is at work, but also that one is ready to roll up one’s sleeves to get that work done. It frames the body nicely, and is probably the only item of male clothing that objectifies the body in such a way as to make it alluring. (Of course, this depends on the body, but still.) And even better, it has pockets. All the pockets a jacket has, but without the sleeves, which get grubby, wrinkled, frayed. A waistcoat, well looked after, will see the rest of its suit – if it came with a suit – to the grave. | Wearing a waistcoat without a jacket is, of course, the best way to wear one. It signifies that one is at work, but also that one is ready to roll up one’s sleeves to get that work done. It frames the body nicely, and is probably the only item of male clothing that objectifies the body in such a way as to make it alluring. (Of course, this depends on the body, but still.) And even better, it has pockets. All the pockets a jacket has, but without the sleeves, which get grubby, wrinkled, frayed. A waistcoat, well looked after, will see the rest of its suit – if it came with a suit – to the grave. |
| England’s win shows you can shake off the past – and not just on the pitch | Jonathan Freedland | |
| My own waistcoat, brought back by a girlfriend from a trip to Nepal (after she’d asked me if I wanted anything from there) didn’t come from a suit. It is my single most indispensable item of clothing, and not just because of the person who gave it to me. And now that Southgate has brought them into the limelight, my foresight and excellent taste have been vindicated. The only snag is that now anyone who sees me in it will think it’s because of him. | My own waistcoat, brought back by a girlfriend from a trip to Nepal (after she’d asked me if I wanted anything from there) didn’t come from a suit. It is my single most indispensable item of clothing, and not just because of the person who gave it to me. And now that Southgate has brought them into the limelight, my foresight and excellent taste have been vindicated. The only snag is that now anyone who sees me in it will think it’s because of him. |
| • Nicholas Lezard is a literary critic for the Guardian | • Nicholas Lezard is a literary critic for the Guardian |
| Gareth Southgate | Gareth Southgate |
| Opinion | Opinion |
| Men's fashion | Men's fashion |
| World Cup 2018 | World Cup 2018 |
| World Cup | World Cup |
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