Vest

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Waistcoats 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 very elegant vest is indicative of the taste for very high stand collars alongside double-breasted waist-length styles which came into focus near the end of the 18th century. The use of satin is flashy next to the elaborately embroidered waistcoats of the previous century, and shows their fashionable continuation as a decorative element in the male wardrobe. The embroidered flowers are a remnant of the styles of the previous century and indicate the transition into the heavily patterned woven textiles used for vests in the 1820s.

The Costume Institute

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Costume Institute's collection of more than thirty-three thousand objects represents seven centuries of fashionable dress and accessories for men, women, and children, from the fifteenth century to the present.

Metropolitan Museum of Art