I Bought A Vintage Three-Piece Norfolk Suit! (Unboxing)

Few things define a classic gentleman’s wardrobe like a carefully chosen piece of vintage tailoring. Today, we’re delving into two exciting finds from Victory Vintage—a Norfolk suit and a morning coat ensemble. Will they reveal rare details, unique stitches, or a forgotten chapter of sartorial history? Let’s unbox them together and find out!

Initial Impressions

I’m here at the Arterton Lounge in London and received a package that I’m quite excited about. I’m headed to Goodwood, and Jack Collins and our team recommended the site Victory Vintage. I found a really cool Norfolk suit and ordered it, along with a morning coat ensemble. Let’s open it up and see what we’ve got.

The Three-piece Norfolk suit

All right, opening it up, I see a full set of trousers. What I liked about the suit was that it came with trousers and breeks, all in the same pattern. Now, out of the box, I think the trousers might be able to accommodate my thighs. Of course, as I’m unpacking it, I’ll look at anything that might look weird or strange.

I can see here that I’ll probably go to my alterations tailor and have the trousers fixed a little bit. But overall, it looks pretty good; it’s in pretty good shape. Looking at the bottom, the hem protector is in perfect shape. I doubt this has been worn very frequently.

I also noticed it has about an inch of extra fabric, but not so much on the other side. The jacket has a nice pleat in the back—a center pleat. I can feel the shoulder padding with a nice weight to it. The smell is not so good. It could use a dry clean. I don’t know if I can do that in time for Goodwood, but we always have a good amount of Roberto Ugolini fragrances that will do the job.

Roberto Ugolini

Oxford Cologne

Roberto Ugolini

Azzurro Cologne

Roberto Ugolini

Loafer Cologne

The waistcoat is pale yellow, not a buff waistcoat but a linen waistcoat with mother-of-pearl buttons, and is single-breasted. I may get some use out of the waistcoat, though I have a long torso, so it may not always work, but it was just part of the set as it was sold.

The Morning Coat

What I found really intriguing about the morning coat was that it was advertised as coming with trousers, and the trousers are not in the pack. I liked that the trousers had the exact measurements I needed for the trousers—inseam and waist. So, based on that, I’m like, well, if this is a morning coat ensemble with pants, waistcoat, and jacket, then I’m going to go with that. The jacket will likely also fit me around the waist, at least.

The morning coat is in pretty good shape overall. No labels inside, but you can see all the handmade details. The stitching in the back is all handmade, so it’s a tailored garment. The shoulder padding is on the stiffer side, but it feels nicely canvassed and has a nice gimp buttonhole, a boutonniere loop, and peak stitching.

This is all properly made. It’s not a former hire rental, which would be bad, but because the pants didn’t come with it, I’m going to double-check the listing to see what else was in there. I’ll reach back out to them and see what they can do.

Trying on the Three-Piece Norfolk Suit

Time to try things on.

The Trousers/Pants

First up: the pants. The tweed is scratchy, but that’s part of the charm. The rise is not as high as I would like, but you have to make a few accommodations with a three-piece garment like this and be okay with it.

It’s really not bad for something straight out of the package. I would probably still go have the pants altered. I would take out things on the side, add darts on top, and make the waist tighter to hug me a little more snugly.

I’d also give myself more room in the seat and thigh so these vents don’t gap too much. That’s basically what I would do. Maybe I would look at the length, but the length actually seems quite good.

The Breeks

Let’s turn to the breeks, which I’m actually more excited about because they are rarer outfits. Considering the breeks are just coming off the rack, it’s pretty good. The breeks already have a little bit more fabric on the thighs.

The Norfolk Jacket

Now, the pièce de résistance, the Norfolk jacket. When I saw the jacket initially, it seemed to be in good shape, and it is. You can see the lining in the jacket—all good. The Norfolk jacket is quite heavy; you can literally sweat into it.

Now, I have really long arms, and I’m happy with the arm length of the jacket. I have room in my chest; I can move around, so it’s quite comfortable. The jacket is a little wider, but for a garment like this, it’s totally fine.

The belt gives a little bit of waist suppression. The belt has an odd buckle where it’s so tight it’s almost hard to get it through. The jacket is quite long; it covers my bum. The belt is slightly twisted on my back, but I’ll fix it soon. Overall, I think the Norfolk jacket is really nice. You look at the shoulder width—it looks good and natural. I move my arms, and the collar doesn’t move away. I’m very happy with it. I’m going to keep it for sure. It even has a working cuff button. Single cuff button. I could try to see if I can fix the button.

And in the winter, I’ll just have to make minor changes. Maybe I’ll get a little button here with a buttonhole sewn on, with another football button, to make it all look consistent. That’ll be it. I’m quite happy.

Price and Value

I paid £375 for this three-piece suit. It’s an unusual three-piece suit, but it is a three-piece suit. You just wear them together all the time. Shipping was £15, so a total of £390. It’s about 30% more roughly at current exchange rates, so we’re talking about $500, which is quite cool for a garment in that shape that is quite unique. If you go to eBay.com, you’ll pay more because it’s the Norfolk suit. That’s what people want; that’s what makes it special. The Norfolk suit has a pleat in the back, which makes it super comfortable to wear.

Trying on the Morning Coat

Waistcoat

Just looking at the waistcoat, you can see all the hand-stitched details. So, this is likewise a tailored garment. The waistcoat has nice buttonholes, and the lining is all handmade. It’s light in color, white and off-white. It’s not dirty, it’s not stained, and it has no sweat stains. I think, measurement-wise, the tailcoat was supposed to be a little tight.

Yes, the waistcoat is too tight. I can’t even wear it. The waistcoat can be tightened at the back with an old-style buckle with double teeth. But it’ll be hard to try it on. I won’t even use it. I just had an idea what the maximum size of this waistcoat is.

Looking through the waistcoat with a light, it’s possible to make it a little bigger if we had to. But frankly, I have morning waistcoats that I could wear with this. Even now, you can see it is tight, right? It feels tight in my chest as I’m flexing here, and I haven’t even buttoned it all the way up.

I could make it work with some alterations, but you can tell this is not how a waistcoat should fit. So, it’s a little tight. Knowing that, I wonder if the morning coat will fit at all, and if it doesn’t, we’ll just send it back. No harm was done about the pants.

Morning Coat

Morning coats are interesting because you can just wear them open. Sometimes, you have double buttons that you can add in, giving you a little more of an opening as you’re closing it. You have it like that. Morning coats are tricky because they’re technically body coats. So, they’re like an evening tailcoat.

… there’s a little wrinkling, which means it’s tight. It’s not ideal on my sleeve. There’s not enough room in the back, so maybe I could have that altered. That would be an option, but I also looked at the length; it is actually quite good.

I think the morning coat may be slightly on the long side. I like the opening cut of the quarters because it is unlike a regular jacket. The cut offers ample space for the belly or your front, accentuating the shortness, which impacts the overall look.

I had high hopes for this garment because the waist and inseam size were exactly the same as the pants I’m wearing today. But it’s too tight in the shoulders, too tight in the arms, and there’s not enough room in the chest. So, even though it’s a nice garment with a nice buttonhole and lapels, I’ll have to return the morning coat.

Plans for the Norfolk Suit, Breeks, and Pants

Apart from the alterations I’ll do to the breeks and pants, one thing that could be cool is to change the belt a little bit. We could maybe have two buttonholes with two small football buttons (or just one), and make it in a way that I could have it be a half-belted jacket if I wanted to, but also a full-belted jacket if I wear it. These are all considerations I can discuss with my alterations tailor.

For now, I will leave everything as is and enjoy the time at Goodwood.

Thanks for joining this unboxing series! Stay tuned for more vintage finds and sartorial tips.