Review: Vecona Vintage Three-Piece Ladies’ Suits

Sporting the Vecona Vintage “Viktoria” three-piece suit in grey wool blend, in Portugal.

Anyone who follows my personal Instagram page (@lauren_stowell) will know I’m a *big fan* of menswear, particularly three-piece suits. The combo of trousers+waistcoat+blazer looks good on everybody of every gender, every shape (in my humble opinion), and I just can’t get enough.

But while there is a glut of available vintage repro menswear for men, the ladies are mostly left out. I have plenty of high-waisted trousers, and quite a few blazers too. I even have a few vests, some I’ve made myself, but pinning down a *matching* set, a true three pieces of the same material…now that is the holy grail.

I’m quite particular about the cut of the pieces making up a ladies’ menswear-inspired suit. I’ve tried and failed many, many times at wearing pieces cut and made for men’s bodies. Maybe I could get away with that when I was a teenager, but an abundance of cake and stress has provided 36-year-old me with too much hip, bum, and boobage to make men’s pieces work. I also don’t wish to invest a lot of money in clothing that doesn’t fit quite right, and three-piece suits aren’t cheap.

Thus far I have only found one vintage repro company making all three pieces cut specifically for ladycurves, and that is Vecona Vintage. I splurged a couple years ago on the Viktoria trousers and waistcoat, then begged Janet, the designer, to make a matching blazer to complete the look, which they did last December. At last!

This is the grey set – the trousers and the waistcoat.

And here’s the matching jacket for the grey set.

The suit now comes in two colorways – Viktoria is the grey and Mrs. Goodwood is the brown. While there is no difference between the cut, the materials do differ. The grey Viktoria suit is a wool blend and while it is pretty nice, it has the softness and drape of a blended fiber. Mrs. Goodwood, on the other hand, is 100% merino wool and has the lightness and crispness of that superior fiber.

The brown all-wool “Mrs. Goodwood” set – trousers and waistcoat.

The blazer for the “Mrs. Goodwood” set in brown merino wool.

The trousers, waistcoat, and jacket are all lined (trousers half-lined) with a viscose/acetate custom woven lining with the Vecona Vintage logo, and the buttons have tiny “Vecona Vintage” on them. These are nice touches. There are also plenty of pockets, and in the trousers I mean *real* pockets, deep pockets. There are also exterior pockets on the blazer, though they’re not very deep.

I’ve found that the cut is very flattering, particularly the waistcoat. It comes down past the waist and flares over the hips. There’s an adjustable buckle on the back. The trousers fit absolutely perfectly as well, with the waist and dept of the crotch exactly as they should be for vintage style. Additionally, the blazer has a lovely peaked lapel and shaping through the waist too. It’s not boxy or half-arsed, and it even has some nice tailoring and padding in the shoulders, which are particularly hard to fit for me.

I ordered:
Size 14 trousers
Size 16 waistcoat
Size M blazer

My measurements are:
Bust 36″ ish
Waist 30-31″ ish
Hip – 40″ ish

All of these pieces fit like they were made for me and I found them to run true to size.

The Vecona Vintage “Mrs. Goodwood” suits – two of the three pieces – in brown 100% merino wool, paired with a vintage repro House of Foxy rayon blouse. I’m still waiting for the Mrs. Goodwood waistcoat to restock.

As a small German company, you can expect very good, personal service from Kai and Janet. Unfortunately the mail system sometimes fails them – Vecona ships very quickly by DHL international, but DHL isn’t particularly bothered about getting you your package on time. This may have just been my experience, but it took about a month and half to receive one of my orders placed in December. The second came quicker but still took about 3 weeks. For anyone outside the EU, I wouldn’t be in a rush to get these items. But when you DO receive them, you won’t be sorry.

So if you’re looking a very, very high quality women’s vintage repro three-piece suit, I highly recommend Vecona Vintage. These pieces are an investment (the total set will run you about $670 for the grey and $725 for the brown), but I felt comfortable purchasing because I’ve been searching so long for a vintage-cut three-piece ladies’ suit and I know these pieces will last me for a very long time (if I just lay off the cake a bit…). I also feel good about supporting a fellow small business, and know that if I wait I may miss the opportunity to own these (as it stands I waited a week too long on the Mrs. Goodwood waistcoat and I’m waiting/praying for it to come back into stock soon!)

You can shop with Vecona at https://www.vecona-vintage.com/. They also have a fantastic men’s line, as well as tons of other items for women.

*This post is NOT a paid promotion. I just really friggin’ love these suits.