CLIFTON Sabre Custom Waistcoat & Vest

The Sabre Custom Waistcoat is tailored formalwear with room for a little individuality. Known as a waistcoat in the UK and a vest in the US, it can be cut as a clean single-breasted piece, a sharper high-cut style, or a more ceremonial double-breasted design with peak or shawl lapels. Every Sabre is made from scratch around your fabric, fit, buttons, pockets, lining, embroidery, and finishing details.

Why Choose the Sabre?

• Five distinct silhouettes: Move from understated and traditional to highly formal without changing the underlying custom process.
• Made as genuine tailored formalwear: Each piece is individually cut and constructed rather than altered from a stock vest.
• Designed for coordinated groups: Create matching wedding parties, hospitality uniforms, club formalwear, or race-day looks.
• Three fabric directions: Choose structured twill, lightweight plain cotton, or printed cotton for greater color and pattern freedom.
• Complete control over the details: Customize lapels, pockets, piping, linings, buttons, embroidery, and internal branding.
• Free design support: Start with a suit, wedding palette, club crest, reference image, fabric idea, or rough sketch.

Choose Your Waistcoat Style

The front shape changes the entire character of the Sabre, from quietly traditional to unmistakably formal.

• High-Cut: a higher front opening with greater chest coverage and a sharper, more contemporary appearance. It works particularly well as a standalone waistcoat or when less shirt front should remain visible.
• Classic Single-Breasted: the most familiar and versatile style, with a clean front and a single row of buttons. Our top recommendation for weddings, hospitality, clubs, and coordinated group orders.
• Double-Breasted: overlapping front panels and two columns of buttons create a broader, more formal silhouette with stronger visual presence.
• Double-Breasted Peak Lapel: pointed lapels add definition through the chest and give the waistcoat a sharper dinnerwear or ceremonial character.
• Double-Breasted Shawl Lapel: rounded lapels soften the front and create a smoother, more elegant formal finish.

Fabric and Feel

Each fabric gives the Sabre a different balance of structure, breathability, and visual impact.

• Twill Fabric: a firmly woven fabric with a smooth surface and enough structure to hold sharp edges, lapels, stripes, and statement patterns clearly. It creates the most defined and tailored-looking Sabre.
• Plain Cotton Fabric: a lightweight, breathable cotton with a soft and natural hand-feel. It is particularly comfortable for summer weddings, hospitality, race days, and warmer venues.
• Printed Cotton Fabric: a soft cotton base that allows custom colors, Pantone matching, patterns, and artwork. It offers more creative freedom than plain cotton while retaining a natural fabric feel.

Which Fabric Should You Choose?

Choose Twill Fabric for the strongest structure, sharpest lapel definition, and clearest stripes or graphic patterns.

Choose Plain Cotton Fabric for a lighter, simpler waistcoat with natural breathability and a relaxed formal feel.

Choose Printed Cotton Fabric if your design depends on custom colors, florals, repeated motifs, branded artwork, or a pattern that cannot be achieved with solid fabric alone.

Fit and Tailoring Options

The Sabre is available in standard sizing or fully bespoke tailored sizing, depending on the level of individual fit required.

A well-fitted waistcoat should sit neatly through the chest and waist without pulling at the buttons or hanging loosely away from the body. The front should cover the waistband when worn with tailored pants, while the back adjustment allows the fit to be refined.

Available tailoring options include:

• High-Cut, Classic Single-Breasted, or Double-Breasted styling
• Peak or shawl lapels on selected double-breasted styles
• Custom front and back lengths
• Welt, jetted, or decorative pocket options
• Adjustable rear strap or tailored fixed-back construction
• Custom button layouts and finishes
• Contrast piping and edge details
• Solid, contrast, or printed back panels
• Custom linings and internal details
• Embroidered names, initials, monograms, crests, or insignia
• Mixed sizes and styles within the same group order

Build the Formalwear Around the Occasion

The Sabre can disappear neatly into a coordinated suit, carry a wedding color palette, reinforce a hospitality uniform, or become the part everyone remembers.

You can customize:

• Front and back fabric colors
• Stripes, patterns, florals, and printed artwork
• Lapel shape, width, and contrast details
• Pocket style and placement
• Piping around lapels, pockets, and edges
• Embroidered initials, names, logos, crests, and monograms
• Button styles, finishes, and arrangements
• Printed linings and back panels
• Contrast stitching, labels, and internal branding
• Individual personalization across a group order

Because every Sabre is made from scratch, you are not limited to the standard black, gray, or navy options found in conventional formalwear.

Best Suited To

The Sabre is particularly well suited to weddings, race days, formal dinners, hospitality teams, clubs, schools, choirs, event staff, ceremonial groups, and anyone who wants coordinated formalwear with more character than an off-the-rack vest.

Key Details

• Styles: High-Cut, Classic Single-Breasted, Double-Breasted, Double-Breasted Peak Lapel, or Double-Breasted Shawl Lapel
• Fabric: Twill, Plain Cotton, or Printed Cotton
• Fabric feel: Firm and structured, light and breathable, or soft with custom print flexibility
• Sizing: Standard sizing or fully bespoke tailoring
• Customization: Colors, patterns, lapels, pockets, piping, linings, back panels, embroidery, buttons, labels, and monograms
• Design support: Included at no additional cost
• Best for: Weddings, hospitality, race days, clubs, formal dinners, events, and coordinated group formalwear

Need Design Help?

Our design team can work from a wedding palette, existing suit, club crest, uniform, reference image, fabric direction, sketch, or initial concept to create a complete custom waistcoat design at no additional cost.