Navy Zip Front Peplum Vest

A consulting partner asked me for one piece she could throw over jeans on Friday and over a slip dress on Saturday. The brief was the kind of brief I wish more clients walked in with: name two days, name two outfits, build one thing.

The navy vest is heavy crepe, fits close through the rib, zips up the centre front with a hidden metal zip we ran in by hand so it stays smooth across the bust. It releases into a soft peplum at the hip with elastic at the back so it actually fits a real waist, not a sample one. The shoulder is cut clean, no padding, so the vest reads as soft tailoring rather than as office wear trying to be casual.

She wears it to the office on Friday with high waisted dark wash denim and a loafer, and to drinks in the evening with the same denim and a stiletto. The vest does both. The denim does the rest. She has been in the vest forty days out of the last year, which she counted, which I did not ask her to do.