I have a vest that lives rent-free inside my brain. Folding neatly in the corner of one of the many bins at a Strip District flea market, it remains something that haunts me. Mainly because I tried to buy it twice and was lied to about its size both occasions; first the tag said 40 and fit like a damn 36. Some stupid department store’s generous sizing circa 1978. Then I found the same exact vest two weeks later, same bin somehow, except this tag insisted it was a medium. Mediums way back when apparently run more small now.
I left it both times, shoved it back in the pile and drove home empty handed.
Wise move, I thought. Until three weeks later I saw someone else wearing it, this fantastic find I let slip through my fingers, and realized I had spent the last year looking for THAT exact cut.
Problem with vest sizes summed up in one idiotic story. The label and reality are often only loosely connected, especially when dealing with anything remotely vintage or preowned, and when it comes to off-the-rack new stuff it’s still not as cut-and-dried as folks seem to think. Which means that when you ask how do you know what size vest to get, I can’t honestly give you a chart. Instead it’s two entirely non-numerical things you should always double check with your own damn hands, because that tag is a best case scenario suggestion and worst case lie.
Know what size you are by feeling it out yourself
Chest measurement is the singular number you should care about on a vest, and that’s only half-truth because I want you to go measure your own chest instead of trusting the tag. Keep a cloth measuring tape folded in your jacket pocket nowadays; sounds paranoid til you get stickered enough at enough garage sale tables to know why. Wrap it around the broadest part of your chest underneath the arms, snug but not tight, and use that number, not the one printed absently on the inside collar label, as your actual size. One brand of vest that says it’s size 42 can run up to two inches larger or smaller than another vest from a different maker that also says it’s a size 42. Throw in western wear or anything predating the 1990’s and you’re dealing with sizing standards from a completely different era.
I learned that lesson about sizing on accident when I picked up a vintage herringbone three piece maybe six years ago. Fucking gorgeous suit, union made, solid wool blazer, the kind of score that makes the entire reason worthwhile. But getting it home, sitting under the kitchen light with nothing but myself and the sleeves to look at it properly I slipped the vest on and it was augh so tight across the chest it looked like I was trying to brace for someone else’s sneeze. Tag said size 40. My actual chest measurement prefers closer to size 42, sometimes even 43 depending on who I’m getting it from, but I trusted a random number sewn into the garment by some guys name I’ll never know way over my own hastily-scrounged tape measure. Ended up hanging that bad boy in my closet for literal years before donating it to someone whose size it actually was, which I have to say felt way better than it gathering dust and mocking me every time I opened the closet door.
The other secret nobody talks about is that vests, when compared to shirts or jackets, simply have zero margin for error. Jackets can be altered at the shoulder, shirts give you a sliver of leeway if you don’t button the top button or two, but a vest is two rectangles front and back with about an inch of leather adjuster on the sides doing the heavy lifting. So if your chest measurement is off by even half an inch you’ll notice every time you sit down, every time you reach up high or get up from sitting. Is not “close enough”. Is you deciding between wearing it or hanging it up after one bad experience.
Length is your second concern, again unlikely to be properly conveyed at the folding table
Chest is your golden ticket but paying attention to length is where most vests get swallowed up in nonsense nobody bothers to question until after they already bought it. Too long and it hangs down below your waist line, past your belt, and makes you feel like you stole it. Trust me on this one, again speaking completely from experience. Which is sort of a specific brand of self loathing few things can top. Too short and it rides up the moment you sit down, top stitching grating against your shirt and displaying inches of belt you just didn’t realize were there. Weirdly awkward and takes zero concentration to spot in other people but you’d be hard pressed to explain why if someone asked you to pin point it. Ideally you want the bottom edge of the vest to hit right about the top of your trouser waistband, where it won’t slide up or down depending if you’re sitting through a 3 hour wedding reception or standing awkwardly at a bar.
There’s this canvas work vest I almost walked past one Sunday afternoon at one of my regular tables. Hideously lost under a stack of off-gray mens sweatshirts that all blend into one same format dull gray color to my drained-omg-im-78 eyes from across the table. Would’ve been kind of a tragic, sorrowful waste of money if I hadn’t double checked it. Pulled it out from the stack, saw the chest was decent enough but when I looked at the length I knew it was cut with a much taller guy in mind. Owner probably closer to six foot or upward who this originally fit on. Almost left it right there but then I remembered vest lengths can be tweaked with the back adjuster; that strap with hole punched buckle you find on the vast majority of decent vest these days. And if I took up some room there in the back I could potentially make up for some of that length discrepancy even if it wouldn’t solve everything.
Got it anyway because how often do you find that perfect canvas fabric with that kind of top stitching detail and walked away. Still wear that vest to this day but I have to consciously forgive how it fits instead of wearing it and enjoying the hell out of it like I should able to do.
Speaking of adjusters, don’t sleep on using that thing if your vest has one. And by sleep I mean it’s not just something there to correct silly mistakes from vintage shopping.
They’re on newer vests as well because know one body has a chest measurement that matches up perfectly with their torso length, and majority of dudes ignore it completely unless there’s an issue. Wear it out of the package snuggly across your stomach and call it a day. If there’s an adjuster on yours take advantage of it. Tighten it up in the back until the front lays flat across your stomach without hooking at the buttons and you just might fix an issue that would otherwise make a properly fitting chest measurement look sloppy anyways.
TLDR copy and paste version if you actually got this far: Measure your chest, not by guessing your size but literally using a tape measure on your actual chest. Check how long it is, vests should end around your waistband, not below. Use your adjuster if it has one, they’re purpose built to help with minor fitting issues. And for christ’s sake once you’ve got those two things figured out, throw that tag inside out. That number isn’t meant to help you like you think it is.
Callum has spent ten years digging through car boot sales and charity shops in Glasgow. He writes about vintage menswear and old workwear, and he’s happiest when he’s found something good buried at the back of a rail.
