As a Kastel Denmark Ambassador, I’m blessed to receive some PR from them every release and those packages have become more and more exciting over the last year/year and a half as the brand expands from mostly just shirts to quite a few different items. They’re always playing with new designs for outerwear and the new Puffer Vest is an exciting new addition to the line. I received the Reversible Puffer Vest Review in Sailor Blue French Tulip/Solid which is just in my favorite – a floral print + gorgeous color. I am going to review it today for you. I do try my hardest to be as honest as I can with my reviews. You won’t see me rave about something that I don’t like. I try to break down the pros and cons on each item so I can give more specific information to help with your decision making.
Lets talk about the obvious first. The print and color combo of this design is just beautiful. I cannot imagine that this color won’t look gorgeous on pretty much everyone. That’s the nice thing about blue…it’s a flattering color on humans. The delicate line-work on the tulip design is so lovely and feminine…it might be my favorite print yet…and I have said that before…but this one is really overtaking the others. I wish I’d been the one that drew it. LOL. It would make gorgeous pillows…or wallpaper. I love it so much. I also enjoy the color of the solid blue side as well as it goes with a LOT of things from both Kastel and other brands. The black edging is a nice touch to add some contrast and also keep the print from peaking out when you are feeling more in a solid mood (or you are wearing a different print that might clash). I’ve been pairing the vest a lot with brown, grey and black breeches and also have worn it with the matching print shirt, the Indigo Lithograph from earlier this year, and Tuscan Wild Rose which is an under-marketed print from them (not sure why) that I highly recommend. It’s stunning. I’ve only had a few times that it’s been cold enough to wear it so far, but it goes with everything I’ve tried to put it with. The gigantic collar is a statement and makes the vest go from purely functional outerwear to a bit of a statement piece. It elevates the fashion element quite a lot.
The design of the vest is really cool. I’ve had reversible stuff before…but not done so well. I love that there are pockets that can be accessed on either direction you have the vest…and they’re actually separate pockets, so instead of having 2 zipper pockets, you actually have 4 zippered pockets (which is pretty awesome for stashing stuff in). The toggles for firming up the neck are only on the print side of the vest however, which makes sense with the way those function. There is a reversible and also two-way zipper so you can zip it up from the bottom or down from the top to get ventilation. The mechanism of the reverse on the zipper does make it a tad fiddly with the zipper having multiple options so you just have to make sure the tab is in the right side before you can do anything, but it’s a minor weirdness. Nothing unreasonable for the adaptability of the vest.
For comfort and performance, I love it. It’s super fluffy and feels like you’re wearing a giant blanket (in a good way). It does a good job of blocking wind, but because it’s a vest you also don’t get too hot. I love that you can adjust the zipper on the bottom and top for more or less ventilation or restriction while you’re riding. Similar to the other vest from Kastel, I can wear it in the car and not feel restricted in my shoulder or uncomfortable, which I appreciate. Most vests and jackets I feel uncomfortable driving in. As big and puffy as it is (taking photos of it laying flat was an interesting problem) it is incredibly lightweight and can be smashed down to fit in almost anything (ha!).
Fit wise, it is nice for my body type. As mentioned it fits nicely in the shoulders so I don’t feel restricted there. It has so much adjustment with the zip and the collar you can make adjustments to the fit as well. It’s a nice vest on me with a smaller upper body and it balances my proportions nicely, but I do think it probably would emphasize a bigger chest because it’s so puffy, so take that into advisement if you have a larger chest. If you don’t generally like puffy outerwear on you, you probably won’t love this one either. However if you do like puffy vests/coats…you’ll like this one as well (probably more than the other ones you have).
Makeup/sunscreen/skincare does tend to rub off on the big collar and kinda sticks around until you wash it again. I know part of that is how high the collar comes up, but part of that seems to be the fabric isn’t the best at fending off oils on the skin. So the solid side can show dirt/stains/product rub off or spray on it since prints do a good job of hiding that sort of thing, but it has so far washed clean of anything I’ve gotten on it…so the stains haven’t been permanent. So it’s not a huge deal, but if you wear makeup/sunscreen…be aware it will rub off on the collar. It says dry clean only on the website, but I’ve washed it and dried it in the washing machine and it’s been holding up fine (I didn’t see a tag on the item that says what to do with it so I just washed it…and I dried it in the dryer too). I don’t do dry clean only for barn outerwear. It’s just not realistic. However I’m not sure it’s strictly necessary. I do wash and dry everything on cool/low heat however.
The quality is exactly what you’d expect for the brand, super! I appreciate in the age of tariffs and inflation, that Kastel is putting out nicer things rather than trying to scale back and make cheaper items so they don’t have to increase the price. That being said, the price is a higher price than we’ve seen from the brand in the past…however the item is a lot more sophisticated in design than what we’ve seen from the brand in the past as well. This vest has a lot more to it with additional adds to construction that would increase the price naturally over what they have put out before. While the price is higher than what we have grown to expect from the brand, the vest is certainly of a quality to demand the price being asked. So I wouldn’t say it is overpriced…just different than what would normally be expected for the brand in the past.
Just like other brands right now, their prices on their recent collections have had to increase due to significant rising manufacturing costs. I did wonder why the sun shirts had not increased in price recently…so I asked! I’ve confirmed with them that they are aiming to keep their sun shirts under $100 as they always have been and are eating their costs on that to not out price the market (and of course hoping the costs come down again soon in the future). As a consumer (but not a manufacturer) suddenly paying significantly higher costs on things…I don’t enjoy that. However I also can appreciate the stress that this must be putting on the companies trying to balance making enough money to continue in business with not pricing their customers out. We can only hope there’s some changes to this sometime soon for everyone’s sake. I just thought I’d bring your attention to it if you saw the vest’s price tag and balked. I did too. I guess this is good for keeping our consumerism levels reasonable and making us be more thoughtful about our purchases.
All that being said about price, I love this vest (and it’s going to be living in my trunk for daily use at the barn all winter) and I do recommend it to you as a valuable piece of outerwear for your closet if you’re currently needing something. The quality and style are lovely. It’s performance is great. However it is a pricey item, so it’s not a impulse buy for most of us. Add it to your Christmas list perhaps. You can always wait for a sale as well (however no guarantees your size will still be in stock). Alternatively, you can always use an ambassador code as well for 10% off which will take almost $18 off and bring it down to $161 as well. (My code is RACHEL10).
If you adore this print but are looking for something else besides a big puffy vest, this print has also been used on a number of other items in the collection. This print is also available in a full print Quarter Zip, a raglan print Quarter Zip, a Sleeveless top, a sweater and even a show shirt. I personally have it in the quarter zip and the sweater. I adore their sweaters (my favorite in my closet by far)…and keep buying more in different prints…it’s my 3rd one now.