VEST

[Davem]

At least in the movies a lot of cowboys had a leather vest.  I'm thinking about getting or making one.  I have no idea where to start.  There are a lot of options.  I'm thinking suede leather front and back.  Should it have a lapel?  Western yoke. How many buttons?  Pocket on both or one side. Western yoke type cut for bottom of pocket (if sewn on outside, and flap?  What about a fabric vest? Is fabric more of a town marshal/shop keep thing.  Any information appreciated.

[Coffinmaker]

  DaveM 

I am of absolutely NO help with your original raft of questions.  However, There are a number of Sutlers who can and do provide quality Leather Western Vests at quite reasonable prices.  "Sully" comes to mind as does "Classic Old West Styles."  Seems that would be a whole lot easier than starting from scratch.  Probably cheaper too.

Best I can do on short notice.

You may well want to ignore this swell missive.  I am in no way a Leather Crafter nor Taylor of any sort.  Any basically useless trivia I might provide may or may not be of any help.  It is however, Saturday morning, been raining, I'm not shooting, I am rather bored and as such elected a really swell flip answer for something to do.  If however, you've read this far, it's too late 'cause Here Ya Are   

[Major 2]

I suppose the Duke and several others made the leather vest a thing to mid- century oaters.
But I think, the trend was Hollywood rather than 19th Century...

Keep in mind also, should you go forward, leather is much hotter to wear.
I would suggest fabric, there were several styles in the Victorian era.
Look here for style & ideas....

https://www.historicalemporium.com/store/mens-vests.php?&theme=Victorian&utm_id=283418810&msclkid=394d3f5e125a17a1b3f65b9b3d1f4a27&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=(ROI)%20Bing%20-%20Victorian&utm_term=victorian%20vests%20for%20men&utm_content=Victorian%20Vests


 

[Major 2]

and here

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=victorian+vests+for+men&adgrpid=1332608655990146&hvadid=83288384287285&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=45060&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvtargid=kwd-83288380298779%3Aloc-190&hydadcr=12945_13478394&tag=mh0b-20&ref=pd_sl_9tpb7iadpp_e

[Marshal Will Wingam]

I don't think many wore leather vests in the old west. Not that they didn't exist but fabric was more common. Many pants didn't have pockets so vests often had four pockets to carry things needed like a watch, knife, tobacco, coins, notebooks, pencils, etc. The movies had one thing correct: almost all men wore a vest. If you cruise through some of the historic clothing sites, you'll get an idea of what was done with them. On the trail, I would suspect that vests would be of a more durable cloth with more pockets where a townie might have one of silk or other light fabric and maybe only a couple pockets. Just how common leather might be would take some researching.