Item 2018.250 - Silk Brocade Waistcoat with Shawl Collar

Cream silk brocade satin waistcoat with a shawl or roll collar, woven in cream and pale brown threads with a design of squiggles and a scattered floral and leaf motif in blue and white. The silk shows signs of wear and thinning where it has creased or been rubbed, particularly around the collar, bottom hem, and buttonholes.

The waistcoat is single-breasted, fastening at the centre front with seven small self-covered buttons and hand-worked buttonholes. It includes two horizontal welted pockets, lined with brown cotton silesia, and trimmed along the collar, fronts, and pocket welts with a fine round braid. The back panel is crafted from brown cotton silesia, featuring an adjustable waist with two wide tabs threaded with white linen tape through three pairs of metal eyelets. The bottom edge of the back panels curves gently into the centre back seam.

The forepart is lined with cream cotton in a blue check pattern, with a tan leather strip at the hem, likely added to protect against friction from trouser brace buttons. A linen interlining is present, and the back lining is in plain white cotton. The waistcoat is entirely hand-sewn.

From Inside the Westminster Menswear Archive:

SILK BROCADE WAISTCOAT
Maker unknown
1830–45
This waistcoat’s front has been woven to create a large check pattern with satin stripes; the squares of the checks are grosgrain with small blue dots, and the pattern has been over-pressed to create a watered effect. The cotton warp threads are visible in areas where the silk weft has been creased and rubbed, such as the collar, hem and buttonholes, where the silk weft has been worn through. It has extensive staining to the inside, under the arms and across the lower back, and has inserts into the side seams to enlarge the width. A strip of tan leather has been added to the inside front hems to minimize wear to the garment from rubbing against the buttons of the owner’s trouser braces.
Silk, Linen, Cotton, Leather, Metal
Archive no. 2018.250