Matters of the heart: breast pockets and the things we put in them
As a recent San Francisco Chronicle article declared: pocket squares, handkerchiefs, puffs, what have you, are returning to the menswear lexicon thanks to TV shows like Mad Men. In Vancouver, a city which takes going casual seriously, the spray of fabric has become an acceptable replacement for a tie. It is dressy but not too dressy. But what of the pocket that holds it: the breast pocket? Imagine if the breast pocket were not there. What would be lost? Angled correctly a breast pocket, distinguished by the tab of fabric known as a welt, has the desirable effect of visually lifting and broadening the chest. Sometimes careless suit makers will make a breast pocket dead, flat horizontal, in which case, it would only visually fatten the wearer’s torso by making it look boxy. But a great breast pocket rises slightly towards the shoulder. Not too acutely. If done right it can enliven the dead zone between the lapels and the shoulder and through the introduction of a slight diag...