Is a Three-Piece Suit Worth It? When a Waistcoat Earns Its Place

A three-piece suit at Mr James starts at $2,045. The two-piece starts at $1,795, so the waistcoat is $250, and it is the whole of the difference. Whether it is worth having has less to do with formality than with how you actually spend a day.

The waistcoat left daily wear when offices became warm, heating became reliable and the pocket watch went into a drawer. It never left tailoring, though, and it comes round again every few years, because it does something no other garment does. It finishes a man in the middle, where a suit is otherwise two separate pieces meeting at a waistband.

What a waistcoat is actually for

A jacket covers your middle only while it is fastened. The moment you sit down, unbutton, reach across a table or take the jacket off, the shirt and the waistband are on their own. A waistcoat keeps the line unbroken. It covers the belt, the shirt tail and the place where a tie would otherwise swing loose, and it does that whether the jacket is on or off.

That is the practical case, and it is also why the waistcoat suits some men's weeks and not others. If your jacket stays on from nine until six, you are buying a layer nobody sees. If it comes off at your desk, at lunch, at a dinner or at a reception, the waistcoat is the garment doing the work for most of the day.

When it earns its place

• A wedding. The groom is photographed for six hours, mostly with the jacket open or off, and a jacket alone reads as undressed in those pictures. There is more on dressing the day on our wedding suits page.
• Winter, and travel. A waistcoat is a genuine layer. In Los Angeles it earns a few weeks a year. On an East Coast trip in February it earns every day.
• Formal daytime. Anything before six in the evening that asks for more than a lounge suit sits more comfortably with a waistcoat than without one.
• Men who are photographed. It holds a shape on camera that a jacket alone does not, particularly seated.
• A second or third suit. If you already own a navy and a charcoal two-piece, a three-piece is a bigger change than another colour would be.

When it does not

If this is your first commission and the suit has to do everything, the two-piece is the better buy and we will say so. A three-piece worn with the waistcoat left at home is a two-piece that cost more. Nor is it the garment for a hot summer in this city. A waistcoat adds warmth you will notice in August, and there are better ways to spend the same money, which we set out in our notes on cloth for hot weather.

How a waistcoat should fit

More three-piece suits are spoiled by a badly cut waistcoat than by anything else, and the faults are easy to see once you know where to look.

The front should be long enough to cover the trouser waistband completely, with nothing showing when you stand straight and nothing showing when you raise an arm. An inch of shirt between waistcoat and trouser is the commonest fault in ready-made three-pieces, and it cannot be let out of a garment that was cut short in the first place.

It should close without strain and without a gap. If the cloth pulls into a shallow X between the buttons it is too tight, and if it stands away from the body at the sides it is too loose. Either way the jacket will sit badly over it. The armholes want to be high and clean so that the waistcoat does not ride up when you move, and the shoulders want to be narrow enough to disappear under a jacket.

The bottom button is left undone. That is not superstition, it is how the garment is cut: the front opens at the hem so that you can sit and walk without the waistcoat buckling. The back is finished either plain in the suit cloth or with an adjuster, and the adjuster is worth having, because a man's middle moves a pound or two across a year and the waistcoat is the garment that notices. The rest of the checks, from shoulder to trouser break, are in our piece on how a suit should fit.

What it changes about the jacket

A waistcoat is not an accessory added to a finished suit. The jacket is cut to go over it, which means a little more room through the chest and the waist, and it means the two garments are fitted together rather than one after the other. That is also why a waistcoat commissioned later to match a suit you already own rarely sits properly. The jacket was drawn for a man without one.

It changes what suits the jacket, too. A waistcoat sits most comfortably under a single-breasted jacket, where the opening lets it show. Under a double-breasted jacket it is hidden almost entirely and adds warmth for no visible return, which is one of the arguments in double-breasted or single-breasted.

Cloth, and the details worth settling

The usual choice is the waistcoat in the suit cloth, which is what makes a three-piece rather than a suit worn with a waistcoat. Then five or six buttons, a straight or lightly pointed hem, two welt pockets, and lapels only if you want the extra formality. A lapelled waistcoat is a decided garment and reads older.

Everything we make is full canvas at every price, cut from a pattern drawn for one person and made by hand in our atelier in Southern Brittany, France. The price is set by the cloth and never by the making, and the making is described on the bespoke suits page.

What it costs, and how long it takes

From $2,045 for a three-piece against $1,795 for a two-piece. Unlimited fittings and a year of complimentary alterations are included. Fifty per cent on commission and the balance on delivery, with twenty per cent off for wedding parties and groups. The full card is on our cost page.

Four to six weeks in domestic cloth, six to eight in imported Italian or English cloth. A rush is possible at twenty-five per cent more, although we would rather have the time.

Questions we are often asked

Is a three-piece suit worth the extra cost?

It is worth it if the waistcoat will be seen. At Mr James a three-piece is $2,045 against $1,795 for a two-piece, so the waistcoat is $250. If your jacket comes off at your desk, at lunch or at a dinner, the waistcoat is doing the work for most of the day and the money is well spent. If the jacket stays on from nine until six, you are paying for a layer nobody sees.

How long should a waistcoat be?

Long enough to cover the trouser waistband completely, with no shirt showing when you stand straight and none showing when you raise an arm. An inch of shirt between waistcoat and trouser is the commonest fault in ready-made three-pieces, and it cannot be let out of a garment that was cut short.

Should the bottom button of a waistcoat be left undone?

Yes, and it is not superstition. The front of a waistcoat is cut to open at the hem so that you can sit and walk without the garment buckling. Fastening the last button fights the way it was made.

Can I add a waistcoat to a suit I already own?

We can make one, and it rarely sits as well as a waistcoat planned from the start. A jacket cut for a man without a waistcoat has no allowance for the extra layer through the chest and waist, so the jacket tends to feel close once the waistcoat is underneath. If the cloth is still available we would discuss it honestly before taking the order.

Is a three-piece suit too formal for a Los Angeles wedding?

No. A groom is photographed for hours with the jacket open or off, and a jacket alone reads as undressed in those pictures. A three-piece in a mid-weight cloth is comfortable for an afternoon here and looks considered rather than stiff.

How much does a three-piece suit cost in Los Angeles?

At Mr James a fully bespoke three-piece starts at $2,045, full canvas, cut from your own pattern and made by hand in our atelier in Southern Brittany, France. Unlimited fittings and a year of complimentary alterations are included. Four to six weeks in domestic cloth, six to eight in imported cloth.

Come and see us

The first consultation lasts an hour and there is no charge for it. You meet Robb or Ben, we take around thirty measurements and three photographs so that posture is recorded rather than guessed at, and we go through cloth with the prices in front of you. If a waistcoat is the wrong answer for your week, we will tell you that too.

We are appointment only, seven days a week, roughly nine until six, with forty-eight hours' notice. The showroom is at 221 Culver Blvd, Playa del Rey, CA 90293, with free parking front and back. Book a private consultation, or telephone 310-503-3592 and we will find a time. You can also write to mrjames@bespokemrjames.com.