My Cheap Vest Can Spice Up Any Old Shirt

Years ago, I bought a cheap dress vest from Hot Topic. At the time, these vests were all the rage in the emo scene and fashionable metal acts. You couldn't flip through a copy of Pitchfork without seeing at least thirty skinny white guys in disinterested poses wearing one of these black, sleek vests over their white V-neck t-shirts. I wore it just the same way for a long time. My girlfriend at the time absolutely loved it, and insisted I wear it with every t-shirt I owned.

My favorite outfit quickly became a simple white t-shirt with the vest draped over my shoulders and worn open. However, that fad quickly passed and the look was no longer in vogue. The vest began to collect dust for many months until I was asked to go out for a night in Vegas with my friends and I wanted something casual yet classy to wear. I combined the vest with a black and white pinstriped dress shirt, and realized that it was an even better look before. I got so many compliments that night that I began to combine the vest with the dress shirt every time i wanted to spice up my evening attire. The best part is that it's black so I never have to clean it.

Truth be told, it is probably incredibly dirty and has probably had more alcohol soak into it's fibers than Lindsey Lohan's car mats. But all I have to do is add a spritz of my favorite Axe body spray before I go out for the evening and it becomes good as new as long as the shirt underneath is nice and crisp. Of course, with a look like this I always make it a point to accessorize well. I have a loarge collection of nice bright skinny ties and I wear the sleeves rolled up with a nice watch or leather wristband. I'm pretty proud that I've adapted a look that was once meant for angsty rockers and made it an edgy look for a young professional such as myself.

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