life

How did the fleece vest become the official uniform of midtown finance bros?

Lee McCabe

24 Nov 2025 — 1 min read

Walk through midtown Manhattan at 7:30am. Between the Sweetgreen salads and the AirPod calls, you'll spot them: an army of fleece-vested analysts, all dressed like they're about to close a Series B in Montauk.

It wasn't always like this.

Pre-2008, Wall Street wore wool. Hermès ties. Cufflinks that cost more than most people's rent. Then the financial crisis hit, and suddenly looking like Gordon Gekko wasn't great for optics.

Enter the vest.

Not quite casual (you're still wearing a dress shirt).
Not quite formal (but hey, no tie).
The perfect middle finger to both Silicon Valley and the old guard.

The migration pattern was predictable: VCs wore them first because they actually went hiking on weekends. Consultants copied VCs because that's what consultants do. Bankers copied consultants because they ran out of original ideas somewhere around 2015.

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