Flexing and fitting in: It’s vest season on Wall Street

• This post originally appeared in the First Trade newsletter.
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If there’s one piece of clothing that’s become synonymous with the finance industry, it’s the vest. Stroll around Manhattan at lunchtime on any given weekday, and you’ll see swarms of sleeveless coats in all their glory.

Their ubiquity earned a nickname years ago: the Midtown uniform. It’s become an internet meme, the first item in a finance bro starter pack, and eyeroll fodder for hipsters who dislike all things basic.

So, with the vest way past the peak of its hype cycle, why are they still such a staple on Wall Street? I hit the streets to find out.

One common reason I heard is that bankers simply like to flex — not necessarily their visible arms, but where they work — as many firms give out branded vests.

“It’s an earned status thing. You put in a lot of work to get to equity research for your team, to get to the PM role for a team, to be able to get to that said firm,” one analyst told me. “That’s why you wear it.”

But the status signalling goes beyond having your firm’s logo on your chest. In fact, many of the vests I came across were more generic, from outlets like Charles Tyrwhitt, Zara, and Arc’teryx.

Wearing any vest at all seems to be shorthand that you’re part of the club, that you belong.

“People like to have the vest on to make it known that they are part of that,” said Jonathan Grossman, who is two years into working at UBS.

Bankers will even wear them inside the office, citing frigid air-conditioned temperatures, Grossman said.

“They do claim that it’s cold inside, but I don’t buy that,” he said. “They want to look cool. They want to look part of the act.”

Even those in finance-adjacent industries, such as commercial real estate, have started wearing vests. Despite its casual nature, a vest lends you a degree of credibility with financial industry clients, said Laz Rabanales, who works at Okada & Company.

“I’m not a banker, I’m a commercial real-estate agent, and I kind of want to appeal to that industry,” Rabanales said. “When you’re dressed as that person, then they’ll most likely want to talk with you and work with you.”

But there’s not always a deeper meaning behind sporting a vest. With November rolling around, practicality often seemed to be good enough of a reason.

As one banker succinctly explained: “It’s cold out.”