Waistcoat
mid 18th century
Medium
silk
Measurements
72.5 cm (centre back) 46.0 cm (width)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of the Mayos Family, 1948
Gallery location
18th Century Decorative Arts & Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
During the eighteenth century, expensive embroidered three-piece silk suits were the height of fashionable opulence among the upper classes. The waistcoat was first adopted into European men’s dress in the seventeenth century as a knee-length vest, wide at the hem, worn under a loose-fitting coat and over a pair of breeches. By the eighteenth century, the waistcoat became a focus of aristocratic men’s attire, embellished with decorative and ornate embroidered designs that were made to be seen under cutaway frock coats.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
(England)
Inscription
none
Accession Number
690-D4
Department
International Fashion and Textiles