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Waistcoat

1690-1710 (weaving), 1720s (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This silk waistcaat, as it was called at the time, illustrates the type of informal dress worn by women early in the day in the privacy of home. It would have been worn with a quilted petticoat. The silk design of the waistcoat is a decade or two earlier, indicating that it was made from an earlier garment. Despite this, it is well cut and sewn, demonstrating the value placed even on remade clothing.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Silk, linen; hand-woven, hand-sewn
Brief description
Woman's waistcoat, 1720s, British; of yellow figured silk, 1690-1710, French green silk trim
Physical description
Woman’s waistcoat of beige satin figured with an extra weft pattern of pale yellow silk. It has a high ‘V’ neckline, straight fronts, 2-piece sleeves reaching to below the elbow, a pointed front waist and long skirts below the waist. The bodice is lined with linen, the skirts with bright green silk sarsenet and the neck and fronts edged with green ribbed silk; the cuffs of the same. It fastens at the front with a boned linen lacing band with 7 worked eyelets, asymmetrically placed, on each side.
Dimensions
  • Overall length: 62.0cm (approx)
  • Bust under armholes circumference: 89.0cm (approx)
Style
Credit line
Given by Miss D. Gibbon
Summary
This silk waistcaat, as it was called at the time, illustrates the type of informal dress worn by women early in the day in the privacy of home. It would have been worn with a quilted petticoat. The silk design of the waistcoat is a decade or two earlier, indicating that it was made from an earlier garment. Despite this, it is well cut and sewn, demonstrating the value placed even on remade clothing.
Collection
Accession number
T.264-1958

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Record createdFebruary 8, 2003
Record URL
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