Men's Tartan Plaid Waistcoats

Three button is the formal Highland cut, worn with a Prince Charlie jacket in the evening and cut higher and shorter to suit it. Five button is the standard daytime waistcoat, worn with an Argyll jacket or with an ordinary suit. If you are buying for a wedding, the jacket you have chosen decides this rather than preference.

A waistcoat, for most people. It puts the sett at chest height where it reads clearly while taking up a fraction of the visual space, so it gets worn far more often than a tartan jacket will. A jacket makes a stronger statement but sits in the wardrobe between occasions.

No. The waistcoat covers the waistline, so a belt underneath does nothing except create a bulge that shows through the cloth. Wear one or the other. If you want the belt and buckle visible, wear an Argyll jacket open with no waistcoat, which is a perfectly correct daytime look.

It can, and at a wedding an exact match reads as deliberate. Away from that, a plain waistcoat in one colour pulled from the sett usually looks better, since tartan against tartan at close range competes. What never works is a different sett that almost matches, which reads as an error rather than a choice.

Close enough to lie flat against the shirt without straining at the buttons, and long enough to cover the waistband completely, since a gap between waistcoat and kilt or trousers is what makes a waistcoat look borrowed. Send chest, waist and back length, measured over a shirt rather than a jumper.

Lining cloth with an adjustable buckle strap on most styles, which is standard construction and lets the fit be tuned after making. Fronts are premium acrylic woven to the sett. If you intend to wear the waistcoat without a jacket regularly, ask about a full tartan back, since a lining back is meant to be covered.