Nicholas Daley Knitted Vest- Blue

Hand-worked cotton runs quietly through Daley’s line, and it comes from the same instinct as the crocheted hats and the knitted bags: a preference for things made at the pace of a hand rather than at the pace of a machine. The vest is open and airy, with the weight in the yarn rather than in the garment, so it holds a shape over a shirt without adding warmth you do not want in April or September. Worn over a plain shirt or a tee it does the job a waistcoat does in tailoring, which is to give the middle of an outfit something to be, with none of tailoring’s formality and none of its obligations. It is a garment you can see through, which is the point of it.

Why we selected it

We took the vest in two colours because it is a colour piece and one shade would have been a half decision. It is also the easiest way into the hand-worked side of this house, which is the side of it we care most about.

The colour

Light blue is the harder of the two to make well and the more useful of the two to own. Hand dyeing means the colour is not uniform: it sits deeper where the yarn took more and lighter where it took less, so the piece has depth in it that a vat-dyed cotton would not. Against a white or ecru shirt the variation is the whole point of the garment. Against navy it disappears, so do not do that.

Materials and construction

One hundred percent cotton, hand dyed and hand worked in England. Colour: Light Blue.

Fit notes

An open, airy vest meant to be worn over a shirt or a tee rather than close to the body. Hand-worked cotton has natural give and will relax slightly with wearing, then recover when it is washed and dried flat. It is a forgiving piece, about as far from size-critical as knitwear gets.

Styling

Over a white shirt with the 70’s Trouser in navy linen. Over a plain tee with the Wide Short. Tagged for both, and it works better on a woman than most of this designer’s menswear does.

Care

Hand wash cool, alone for the first few washes because hand-dyed cotton can release colour, and dry it flat rather than hanging it. A hand-worked cotton piece will stretch under its own wet weight on a hanger and will not come back. Our fabric care guidance covers the rest.

Related pieces

The Knitted Vest in green is the crocheted half of the pair. The Hand-Crocheted Bucket Hats and the Messenger Bag are the same hand-work at accessory scale, and the Classic Two Pocket Shirt in beige is the shirt underneath. Everything we carry from Nicholas Daley is listed together.