Tracie,

I wear my life vest (Lotus kayak vest) under my harness and then clip the harness shoulder straps into the strap that is the closure for the vest pocket. This pocket closure is a vertical strap with a plastic male clip on it that clips into the female end of the clip attached to the vest. The harness straps come straight up from the spreader, the right strap comes to left of the female clip and over the right shoulder. Then the left harness strap comes to the right of the female clip and over the left shoulder. I then slide the male clip into the female clip which closes the pocket and keeps the harness shoulder straps from sliding off the shoulders. That pocket is in the center of the vest. It is all very comfortable and when trapezing, I can lay completely back and have my shoulders supported, my weight evenly distributed over harness. I hope this is helpful.