Habit à la disposition

Waistcoats and vests of the 18th and 19th centuries served as a layer protection and ornamentation during a period in fashion when the coat was intended to be left open in the front. The color was often chosen to complement the suit and covered in imaginative embroideries, heavily woven patterns or shiny satins made to draw the eye. The style of the neck, the length and the hem treatment fluctuated as the tastes changed from over-sized coats of the early 18th century to narrow tightly fitted coats of the late 18th century and onward.

This rare flat textile documents the manner in which valuable men's embroidered waistcoats were produced. The embroidery was worked on the textile in the shape of the right front, left chest, left pocket and buttons, before the fabric was cut and fashioned into a garment. Due to the limited loom width of the 18th century, the economical use of the narrow textiles resulted in the left pocket commonly being embroidered apart from the left chest panel. The end result, when sewn together with a plain back, was an eye-catching waistcoat which is so often associated with the fashionable 18th-century man.