Artifact: Man's Waistcoat
Materials: Silk floral embroidery on silk faille, linen
Dimensions: length: 25 in. (63.5 cm)
Date: Ca. 1780
Origin: England
Collection: LACMA
License: Public Domain
Ledger Entry: Waistcoat
Department: Clothing
Customer: John Newton
Ledger Page: 252
Imported From: Most of the ready to wear clothing sold in the Ramsay store would have been imported from England. Textiles were one of the largest departments of the store, indicating that most customers made their own clothing.
Product Description
Men wore waistcoats under their coat in a similar function to vests or cumber buns in modern men's formal wear. Since they were always worn under a coat, waistcoats often employed thinner, less expensive fabrics for the backs. They were often sleeveless, but could have sleeves for added warmth. Since they were most frequently used for formal attire surviving waistcoats are often highly ornamented with brocaded or embroidered patterns though simpler waistcoats were also used by working class men for added warmth.
Citation: Linda Baumgarten. Eighteenth-Century Clothing at Williamsburg. (Williamsburg, Va: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1986), 57-59.; Linda Baumgarten. What Clothes Reveal: The Language of Clothing in Colonial and Federal America (New Haven: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in association with Yale University Press, 2002).
Historical Price: 6 pounds, 12 shillings, 1 pence; Modern USD: $1480
Product Variations
The databases record only two purchases of waistcoats. John Newton purchased a scarlet waistcoat with gold lace for six pounds twelve shillings and one pence. Allan Macrae purchased a blue sateen embroidered waistcoat, however the price is not legible.
