I formerly owned a 1911, but I lost it in a tragic boating accident
, thus I know a little bit about them.
Concealability is a function of how, when, clothes, your build, where you will carry it on you, etc. As an extreme example, you wouldn't want to carry a full-size 1911 in an ankle holster unless you have really skinny calves and wear bell-bottoms.
My suggestion would be first consider thoroughly where on your person you will carry it weighed against your usual attire for each season, how invisible it has to be, etc. Just think your way through it. Borrow one from a friend to test it out in front of his mirror if you need to.
Same goes for holsters.
Before considering a compact model consider the ballistics. The barrel is the acceleration lane for the bullet. The bullet does not go from 0 to 849 ft/sec at the start of the rifling. It accelerates as it goes down the barrel. Shorten a barrel from 5" to 3" and you've chopped off 2/5 of the acceleration lane. That does not translate into a 2/5 aka 40% reduction in velocity, but it does mean a reduction in velocity. Now you have to worry about whether your preferred hollowpoint will open up at that lower velocity. And whether the loss of energy in foot-pounds is acceptable to you. For example, for your own usage and comfort level, it may or may not make sense to turn a .45 into a 9mm muzzle-energy wise. Why not just carry a 9mm that gives you more shots per magazine? I'm not saying a compact .45 is equivalent to a 9mm. I'm saying you may want to check out the velocity and muzzle energy loss and take into consideration. You certainly don't want to be disappointed
after you buy a nice expensive compact. And, you definitely don't want to find out in the middle of a gunfight that your hollowpoints won't open up.
Oh, and never believe a word written in the gunzine (gun magazine) reviews about this or that gun. If you look carefully the guns they review are always great, and almost the only criticisms are cosmetic. For example, when the Taurus Judge and the S&W equivalent came out, the gunzines hyped the shotgun angle. Nevermind that the .410 shot had pathetic penetration, and that a rifled barrel spins the shot scattering it wider. So, if you have info about "The Power of a .45 in a small package!" from a gunzine, realize they're omitting the loss of velocity in a shorter barrel. Probably to keep the advertising business coming in.
There is another problem with compacts that you will want to research regarding your specific candidate gun. It may have been solved generally, but you will want to research it a bit so you don't buy a headache. Shortening the slide changes the momentum of the slide. This requires the manufacturer to monkey with the recoil spring tension. Some compacts had problems arising from slide weight/spring tension issues. Spend some time researching on forums about your candidate gun's mechanical reliability. For example, Smith & Wesson is the holy grail of revolver manufacturers in many minds. But, a little time on a Smith forum shows numerous manufacturing defects and even some design flaws.
I'm not trying to scare you off a compact. I'm saying do your research so you don't end up with a headache.
The above was all about mechanics. You also have to understand there is a religious aspect. Once you join the Cult of the 1911, you will have to learn the Gospel of John Moses Browning (google it). You will come under fire for the least comment that seems even indirectly heretical. Heresy is not tolerated by the Cult! You will be expected to know the Doctrine. In time, you may even forget there are other guns out there. At that point your assimilation will be complete.