Jacket for a man worn as an undergarment, bamboo beads, cotton, silk, China, Qing dynasty, 1800-1900

Jacket for a man worn as an undergarment. It has a central front opening ( with a button and a pair of tying-bands), no collar, long and tight sleeves, straight cuffs, rounded bottom corners, wide openings under the arm-pits. Netted garment with bamboo beads over the cotton yarn, and silk material; The openwork forms a lozenge diaper, with two bands of hexagons round the waist.

Given by Mrs Forster Parsons

Registered File number 1923/8166. Stated by the donor to have come from Beijing.
V.Garrett ' Chinese clothing, an illustrated guide, 1994, p79.80
Dating back to the Ming dynasty was the bamboo vest or jacket, which was worn in the hot weather up to the beginning of this century. Bamboo clothing is made from the finest branches of the tree, worn in summer next to the skin to keep the light cotton shirt of inner jacket from irritation the skin when moist from perspiration.Made like a large jacket with a centre front opening, it was constructed from tiny pieces of hollow bamboo sewn together in a diagonal pattern. The effect of this open-work construction was like that of a moderne string vest: it trapped the air, kept the wearer cool and dry in the hot weather and protected the outer clothing.

This kind of openwork shirt would have been worn under a silk garment in summer time, to avoid the perspiration.

T.272-1923