DORNSCHILD – The bottom button of a vest is always open.

Dress codes have become extremely relaxed, and a casual chic look has become increasingly popular especially in the last 10 years. Even in more conservative industries and across all management levels, people today want to look more fashionable and more free and authentic, in keeping with their personality, . When it comes to styling with a men’s vest from DORNSCHILD, the sky’s the limit, and plus, you always look stylish.

No matter how strongly fashion directions and trends turn, some rules will never go out of style. They also show that dress codes can definitely be broken if you know how to do it skillfully.

One of the most important rules when wearing a vest is that the bottom button always stays open! Why this is so, takes us back a few centuries and is based on three theories:

1. The Crown Prince Theory.

It was well known that the British King Edward VII and son of Queen Vicoria loved clothes and had his clothes changed several times a day. A vest was a key element to his style as sure and sound as dark sunglasses were for Karl Lagerfeld. When Edward VII yet again indulged his appetite and abundantly so, he would open his lowest vest button for some relief. In order not to embarrass him, all the male servants did it too, inconspicuously. This apparently went on until the king only wore the bottom button open and ithe trend quickly spread like wildfire. This version was confirmed by Sir Hardy Amies, who was Queen Elizabeth’s official tailor for four decades. This was first reported in 1908 by the British trade magazine Tailor & Cutter.

2. The rider theory.

The “horseback”” theory is plausible but not quite as persuasive for broadly enforcing this fashion rule. It states that on the one hand, you have to leave the bottom button of a vest open when riding, in order to be able to ride comfortably on a horse at all. Also to prevent the vest from slipping up. And on the other hand, it is easier to get on a horse if the bottom button is not closed to begin with.

3. The elite theory.

Especially among the upper classes of the United Kingdom, people in the early Victorian Age attached great importance to beautiful and stylish clothing. For this reason, the children were dressed like this and went to an elite school or college. Young men and friends of the Elite College called Etontats who, as members of Pop – Eton’s oldest self-electing society – belonged to the upper echelons of society were quite ostentatious. In order to stand out from the crowd and to recognize each other from the rest of the world, the pop members always left the bottom button of their vest open. They lept this traditional sign in their later professional life in order to be recognized as pop members. They left their mark on large sections of the social elite in Great Britain, which is why Savile Row tailors and garment makers quickly became aware of the open button, oriented themselves to it and spread the trend around the world.

All three theories have their own charm, make perfect sense and are not fashion fairy tales invented by designers. Since almost everything is allowed in fashion, rules can be broken. The main thing is that you stay true to your style and be authentic.

At DORNSCHILD, we love values and live them in a beautiful mixture of tradition and modernity, which is why we always keep the bottom button open!