The gilet, a staple of many a wardrobe is a strange thing. Merely a fancy waistcoat or its own beast? The basic function is dead practical, keeping the core warm without being as cumbersome as a coat. Yet this deceptively simple piece of clothing actually says a lot about the wearer…
The Schoffel
Source: Look At My Fucking Red Trousers
Go to any county show or point to point and you will see hundreds of these, a polartec fleece with a fake leather trim. originally made as a thermal lining for their jackets, it caught on when some bright spark started wearing it on its own on a shoot (I’m making that up but it’s probably not far from the truth), being highly individual types it was immediately copied by the entire county set. Now Schoffel can hardly keep up with demand, they make them in a ton of colours and hiked the price up to eye-watering levels. If you hear enyone referring to ‘their Schoffel’ it is only ever this item of clothing, despite the brand doing all the usual tattersal shirts and tweed coats, they have been reduced in the public eye to being merely a purveyor of fleece waistcoats.
The bullet proof
Not a fashion choice per-se, but the bullet proof vest is the only thing to be seen in on the battlefield or major conflict zone. If you want to keep it rustic, go for the Ned Kelly look:
The Tactical
Here’s a recent trend, widely adopted by dad’s who read lots of books on the SAS. The term ‘tactical’ is now used for any item of clothing that either looks faintly military and/or is only available in black. Blame the likes of Ant Middleton and SAS Who Dares Wins for popularising the look. Up-market brand Thrudark have several gilets available in camo or tactical black. Now I have to come clean here, I am a dad and I do (funnily enough) have one book on the SAS. I also own a Thrudark Mantra Gilet. Which is actually dead comfy, makes me feel like I could be in the special forces even when I’m walking the dog, and black goes with everything right?
Ones that smell of wet dog
That’ll be the one that Monty Don is wearing at the top of the page, the Barbour Westmorland if we’re not mistaken. This thornproof is a solid piece of kit, whether fighting the brambles in the garden or a Spey salmon it keeps you dry, warm and most importantly doesn’t restrict your movement in situations that require lots of arm waving.
As you can see in the pic above, it’s the perfect gilet for a farrier, that horse can gnaw his back as much as it likes but it won’t get through.
The Down Vest
Wear this at your peril, you will look like an overstuffed armchair. With thin arms. Just look at the smug little fashionista below.
So what does it say about you?
Bloody loads, it immediately defines how you want to be pigeonholed, so think long and hard before donning the damn thing. However the gilet is a wardrobe essential in every form, I’ve got all of these and more. OK, well not the Ned Kelly thing, I only put that in there to make it look like I had a sense of humour. And not the padded down one, not sure that’s actually a thing.
