Types of Vests: A Complete Overview
One of the best ways to elevate your style is by layering. Layering can show off your unique sense of style, keep you warm in the colder months, and make sure you’re ready for anything the day throws at you.
Still, we have to choose our layering pieces wisely. While many of us might have an easier time choosing jackets or accessories, one layering piece that can be especially hard to choose is a vest.
Today, Tasc Performance is here to break down some of the best vests to add to your wardrobe, especially if you’re living an active lifestyle. These vests aren’t just stylish, they’re also high-quality, performance-oriented, and sustainable.
What Are Different Types of Vests?
A vest is a sleeveless outer garment for the upper body. Vests are usually (but not always) open front and collarless. Of all outer garments, vests may be the most common to wear under another outer garment, making them the masters of the middle layer.
Vests can vary from highly-formal tuxedo pieces to casual, comfort-focused seasonal layers. Since we’re all about the active lifestyle here at Tasc Performance, we’re going to focus on vests you can wear throughout your everyday life.
Motion Vests
Let’s start with the most versatile kind of vest you can add to your wardrobe. With activewear-focused features and luxurious materials, the motion vest is made for just what the name implies: a life on the move.
From an autumn commute to a chilly spring day at the park, the Motion vest is built to keep you comfortable as you go throughout your busy day through activities of varying intensity.
Thanks to high-quality materials such as bamboo and organic cotton, in our MOSOember Brushed Back Interlock fabric, you’ve got a wind-resistant, moisture-wicking, odor-resistant, chemical-free layering piece that’s sustainable to boot.
Plus, it’s easy to style our Motion Vest from the most casual athleisure outfits to more functional-formal looks like some chinos and a lightweight hoodie.
Fleece Vests
One of the most popular ways to layer is with fleece outerwear, especially in the cooler seasons. Our Legendary Fleece Vest features a super soft, warm yet breathable build that is perfect for the changing weather. It’s also made with moisture-wicking in its DNA, thanks to bamboo fabrics, to ensure a bit of sweat or weather is hardly even a bother.
With a balanced fit that is designed to flatter the form and insulate where needed without being too tight, this vest is made for the active person who could just as soon wear it on a short jog as a trip to the store or a night out for dinner.
What Should You Look for in a Vest?
With the best vests for an active lifestyle on the table, let’s talk about the factors that make them so perfect.
The active person needs versatile styles that are equipped to handle moderately intense activities. From brunch to a long commute, work to a workout, and errands to socializing in the evening, you’re likely to be on the move through different environments all day long. It’s essential your clothes keep you comfortable from start to finish.
Breathability
Layering pieces rely on quality, breathable material to do their job well. If a vest isn’t breathable, it’s going to trap too much heat in without letting the air circulate, which leads to overheated discomfort, even when it’s cold outside. The right balance of insulation and breathability is ideal: something warm but not an oven.
Temperature Regulation
To build on breathability, other factors also come into play that ultimately are there to support your body’s thermoregulatory functions.
Temperature regulation is how our body naturally maintains an ideal internal temperature. Sweat is one of the most common tools our body uses, but there are other functions involved too.
What you wear plays an important role in the process. With the right amount of breathability, warmth, and moisture-wicking, your body can balance its own temperature unhindered.
Moisture-Wicking Technology
Sometimes called sweat-wicking, but not to be confused with moisture-absorbing, this quality is key to any active lifestyle clothing you wear.
Moisture-wicking allows fabric to efficiently draw moisture (such as sweat) from your skin, through its material, out to the surface, where it quickly dries. In contrast, a moisture-absorbing material like cotton sucks up moisture but then holds onto it, drying slowly.
It’s key that the fabric in your clothes doesn’t just get the water off your skin but lets it evaporate quickly. Otherwise, you might be unable to thermoregulate properly thanks to wet, sticky clothes.
Ultra-Soft Materials
It’s no secret that soft materials are always near the top of the list for any clothes you wear. Even for outerwear layering pieces like a vest, you shouldn’t settle for less than the softest, cushiest texture and feel possible to ensure total comfort.
What Are the Best Materials for Vests?
‘Many of the core features we discussed above all come down to the materials used. For vests, the superior materials on the market are similar to those for all active lifestyle attire.
Compared to traditional cotton and synthetic materials, the materials below offer better performance and vastly improved sustainability. To make practical, future-friendly choices, look for our exclusive, high-quality fabric blends instead of the cheaper, lower-quality alternatives.
Bamboo Viscose
An all-natural powerhouse, bamboo fabric is made from the fastest-growing tree in the world and shares that efficiency and effectiveness in its material qualities. Bamboo wicks moisture with impressive power, resists odor, resists wrinkles, is hypoallergenic, and even protects the wearer from UV exposure with its UPF 50+ sun protection.
Plus, thanks to microgaps in the fibers, bamboo is super breathable. It’s one of the best temperature-regulating fabrics you’ll ever use, and it’s soft like silk mixed with luxurious cotton.
Here at Tasc Performance, we’re proud to use our signature chemical-free bamboo fabric blends in many of our best styles, including our favorite vests.
Recycled Polyester
Synthetic fabrics have some useful practical benefits, but they don’t outweigh the environmental impacts of producing them in the first place. Many synthetic materials like polyester are made from fossil fuels and require chemical finishes that pollute the environment.
However, one of the best ways to counteract this issue is to recycle existing polyester to better ends. Here at Tasc, we’re seeking to better our future by minimizing material waste, putting these materials that don’t biodegrade back into new clothing in fabric blends with super powerful natural materials.
Organic Cotton
While traditional cotton is almost as environmentally problematic as synthetic materials, organic cotton offers a hugely better alternative. For the same soft feel without sacrificing sustainability, this superior material is the way to go.
Fleece
Fleece material, usually made from wool or cotton, is super soft and known for warmth. At Tasc, we ensure our fleece is also breathable and moisture-wicking, so you can stay warm without overheating or feeling uncomfortable.
Find the Vest for You
If you’re looking for top-quality vests with the best materials, mindful designs, versatile aesthetics, and sustainability from start to finish, our Tasc Performance vests are perfect for you!
For all things active lifestyle and fashion innovation, keep coming back to our Tasc Life blog!
Sources:
Breathability - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
Physiology, Temperature Regulation - StatPearls | National Library of Medicine