Waistcoat...no belt?

[Steve Ashton]

The Belt - no belt - thing is an just old school, guy dressing thing. I was taught when I was young that you do not wear a belt with a vest or waistcoat. I was taught that you wore suspenders/braces when you wear a vest/waistcoat.

But then I was also taught that you never take off your jacket and wear a vest alone. I was taught that if the vest has the satin back and adjuster then it was proof that the vest was not designed to be outerwear.

There are many of these old school things. I was taught that if your vest has a straight bottom, and was single breasted, you left the bottom button undone. If your vest has the points at the bottom, the points were a simulation of the bottom button being left undone so you did up all the buttons.
This apparently comes from King George VII who was a rotund man and could not get the bottom vest buttons done up so left the bottom of his vests gaping open and the rest of us followed along.

This same old school teaching is what I still do for the most part. It is what I learned so it is what I am most comfortable with.

Today, all over the internet, you will see vests and belts worn together. If you choose to follow what has become widely accepted no one can say you are wrong.