Gentle Teresa was released in the Early Fall issue of Knitty about a month ago, and since then I received several requests from knitters that they wanted to see the sample without the belt.
Sample was a Medium and was stylized with a belt to match the model's boots. But of course! This can be worn without a belt. Here are some photos I took of myself wearing the same sample, without the belt.
The pattern is knit without any waist shaping for easy layering. These were taken in about 85 degrees room so I'm wearing a short sleeve tee and shorts. The tee is a medium weight knit, but I've worn this vest outside when I first knitted it with a long turtleneck knit tee and it fit very well.
As you can see, this vest is supposed to be worn with enough positive ease to create the oversize top look, but if you prefer more fitted look, refer to the "Finished Measurements" section of the pattern. In most cases, simply going down a size will help.