Style2 min read
Vents: side, centre or none
The slits at the back of a jacket. They decide what happens when you put your hands in your pockets or sit down.
A vent is a slit in the back of a jacket, and there are three arrangements. It is a small detail that matters mostly for what it does when you move.
Side vents
Two vents, one at each side seam. The most flattering and the most practical. When you put your hands in your trouser pockets or sit down, the vents open and the flaps move aside, so the back of the jacket stays flat instead of riding up over your seat.
They also let you reach a back trouser pocket without disturbing the line of the jacket. This is the default on our suits, and for most people it should stay that way.
Centre vent
A single vent up the middle of the back. Common on American suits and on anything mass-produced, because it is simpler and cheaper to make.
It works, but it is less kind: when you sit or put your hands in your pockets, a single centre vent gapes open into a wide V and frames your backside rather than covering it. On a fuller seat it can look untidy.
No vent
A completely closed back. The cleanest possible line from behind, which is why it belongs on dinner jackets and on very formal, structured Italian tailoring.
The trade-off is movement: with nowhere to release, the jacket pulls across the back the moment you sit, and it creases. Fine if you will be standing all evening. Not fine for a suit you work in.
Side vents for a suit you wear. No vents for a dinner jacket. Centre vent only if you actively like it.
One habit worth breaking
New suits come with the vents tacked shut by a loose white X-stitch, to keep them flat in transit. It is meant to be cut off before you wear the suit, along with the stitch holding the pockets closed and any label sewn on the outside of the sleeve. A surprising number of suits get worn for years with the vents still stitched together, which is why their backs never hang right.