In Review - Perfect Weather for the Beach - Brown's Beach Vest No. 524

 

I'd bet every guy, at some time or another, has watched a period show or film set in the early/mid-20th century and thought, "hey, I really like those clothes." I'll actually argue you really can't be a fan of Americana, workwear, and denim without also having a healthy appreciation for vintage clothing. The major problem with vintage and vintage-inspired menswear, though, is that it can look like like you walked straight out of a black and white photograph of a railyard. I see this in some of the accounts I follow on social media. Even though I like a lot of the looks, some of them seem very foreign to modern style sensibilities. It's just hard to resolve the image of the guy in the hickory stripe chore coat and cinch-back bracer button jeans with the same guy sipping on a Slurpee or getting out of a Toyota Camry. Now I don't look down on strict repro style at all, but in my own wardrobe I like to try and mix in clothes that are vintage or vintage-inspired but don't feel so out of place today.

 

Boardwalk Empire - Screenshot from Vintage Workwear blog

A good example of this gray zone is Brown's Beach Cloth. I've been on the hunt for some type of Brown's Beach garment ever since I came across a few BB vests on my visit to Japan back in 2016. Authentic vintage examples are pretty pricey, generally in the range of $400-1000s depending on the style and condition, but they are out there if you have the time, money and inclination to track one down (my friend David over at Briar Vintage has been known to find the odd piece from time to time). Fortunately, there are several companies that make their own products from reproduced Beach Cloth today, ranging from strict Japanese repro models to more modern interpretive garment styles. 

After years of saved eBay filtered searches, I finally found a pre-owned brown Japanese repro version on eBay in my size for $170 shipped from Japan. I've been wearing it during this cold snap whenever I can find an excuse to go outside, and it's been bringing me boatloads of Marie Kondo-like joy every time I get a chance to put it on or just hold it in my lap and caress it like a baby deer.

Design, Materials and Construction

 

If you know what to look for, Brown's Beach Cloth garments are instantly recognizable for both their iconic fabric as well as their designs. Beach Cloth, a salt-and-pepper ~70% wool/30% cotton blend, was invented in 1901 and originally marketed towards outdoorsmen and professionals who braved the cold northeast winters. It was basically the techwear of its time, similar to something like Ventile cloth that would come later, until synthetic fabrics took over the market in the latter half of the 20th century. 

1920s Brown's Beach ad from Vintage Engineer Boots Blog

 

The durable 2-ply fabric is densely woven and of significant heft, with a zig-zagging rougher face on the outside and a much softer and cozier fleece interior. The closest thing I can compare the weight and drape to would be a stiff heavy boiled wool jacket, rather than something lighter or pillowy like a knit sweater. It's surprisingly tough stuff, even on the 70-odd year-old versions I've handled.

 

There are several versions of BB vests and jackets out there with different collars, pockets, and closure configurations, but the best iterations I think are the ones that close with Brown's Beach snap buttons and feature U-line pockets. Finished with black twill cotton piping, the characteristic swooping curved pockets lend the Brown's Beach vest its signature look. The snaps are heavy, tough as nails and satisfying to secure, without ever having to give a second thought to them popping off if one were to pop a mean flex and one also had muscles. Around the back, you'll find a buckle-back that let's you dial in the fit over your base layer. 

 

Sizing and Styling

 

I'm 5'11" with a 37" chest, 145 lbs and typically take an alpha small top or 36-38R depending on the origin/maker. I bought a size 38 in the No. 524 vest, which fits me comfortably over a single layer. Japanese sites are typically very good about having measurement charts, so I'd also recommend searching through some old blogs and online storefronts if you need to dial in the size of a Brown's Beach piece you're looking at. Please note that the mannequin that says "36" in my pictures is actually (annoyingly) closer to a true 40" measurement, which is why it strains the buttons a little.

 

To me, the classic BB vest in this "low neck" style (which is still a pretty high neck) just looks like a more interesting version of something you might get from Filson or Woolrich. I think that's because Beach Cloth, in and of itself, is generally not a very in-your-face fabric (though some louder styles do exist), and the design aspects of the jackets and vests are typically not that "out there" either. In fact, many of the jacket styles, especially those with less conspicuous welted pockets, just look like - well, jackets. 

 

As a vest, the No. 524 plays well with other outerwear as a mid layer, especially workwear (genius, I know) and Heritage Americana/Amekaji of either the classic or quirky Japanese variety. I've lately been wearing mine under my Kapital Ring Coats, but more mainstream fits are also pretty approachable with most casual outfits that aren't particularly "modern" or minimalist. An oxford button down and your favorite jeans works surprisingly well, for example. Beach Cloth also comes in a variety of colors, ranging from straight black to a flat light green, but the best are surely the salt-and-pepper black, dark blue and brown colorways. A fair bit of my wardrobe is indigo, so I find brown compliments nicely.

If I had to level one potential criticism, I'd say that the vest runs longer than I thought it would in the torso. Usually, vintage/vintage-style garments tend to end near the natural waist, a touch higher than the mid/low-rises we're more accustomed to finding in current fashion, but the 524 comfortably covers my beltline. It may be more of a functional design element, but something I should mention as I'm already on the taller side.

For further style inspiration, searching #brownsbeach on IG will lead you to a good mix of Brown's Beach jacket and vest fits and pictures of people on beaches.

Summary and Conclusions

I've been after a Brown's Beach vest for half a decade, and now my life is complete.

In all seriousness, though, scratching a 5 year-old itch yields a deeper sense of satisfaction than seeing something online for the first time and buying it on a whim. These days, I find a lot of pleasure in taking my time and playing the long game to find exactly the right thing (case in point, I just put the original Beams Plus brown patchwork Harris Tweed balmacaan in my closet after approximately the same wait). It definitely helps cut down on purchase regrets as well.

 

If you like the Brown's Beach style but want to look at all your options, you can usually find the usual suspects (Full Count, Sugar Cane) every year plus seasonal pieces from heritage-minded retailers. My vest was made for Speedway Shop in Japan, though Full Count seems to have picked up production more recently for current Japanese sources. If you like Kapital, you're probably already aware of their Beach-style garments going back for years in a variety of zany fabrics, cuts, and prints, though those have really nothing to do with the fabric and more with the classic pocket styles on LSD. They're great.

Kapital boro vest

Lady White also makes a premium t-shirt called the Clark that uses the same U-pocket style. RRL recently ran a couple pieces this last AW season, J. Peterman has a zip version on sale currently, J. Crew fashioned an overshirt out of Beach-style fabric for their Wallace & Barnes line last year (though it's actually a lot softer, less dense and less durable, in my experience), and Taylor Stitch has been running a couple versions of their jackets in their own wool/cotton/nylon blend Beach-style fabric. You can find Full Count's repro Brown's Beach jackets and vests at Okayama Denim, Clutch Cafe, or Yahoo Japan Auctions, and vintage garments on eBay and Etsy. 

You could also set a saved search on eBay and wait ~ 5 years. I'm just saying, it's been done.

 

Inspiration taken from some of my favorite shops, Instagram accounts, and blogs (apologies for not tagging everyone here as I have a folder filled with these. If you'd like your picture removed or updated with source, please don't hesitate to contact me):