The waistcoat, chic underneaththe man of taste
The flagship element of the triptych forming "the French dress" and whose costume 3 pieces will be the ultimate avatar, the waistcoat is one of the parts of the men's dressing room that is not rare to discover in the trunks of old costumes As well as in public sale.
I. From the jacket to the waistcoat, the coquetry unveiled
Succeeding at the doublet around 1670, the waistcoat - will take this name only in the last third of the eighteenth century.Equipped with pockets and buttonholes that are often dummy, the basque jacket still descends until mid-thigh under the Regency. It was only after losing her long sleeves and being shortened to the waist that she became a waistcoat, around 1760.

In the first part of the century, the waistcoat or jacket, of which only the visible part is made of "rich fabric" (the back adjustable by a lace being cut in an ordinary cloth of linen or cotton) is most often assorted . Miniature or large chiselled velvet ornamented with gold and silver embroidery will be in vogue for a long time, especially for winter suits. However, the exuberance of the fabrics with oversized flower patterns gave way around 1760 to the sowing of fleeets and stripes.
As early as 1770, fashion will prefer taffeta or Pekins striped and more often still satins united in tones brighter than the coat, yellowish greenish called "merdoye" and especially white ivory.
These vests are delicately embroidered in polychrome silks (see main illustration above) constitute the great majority of the pieces seen in public sales. They are most often embroidered in pieces or available. Their decoration, selected from patterns or samples of the embroiderer, was carefully embroidered to the shape on the uncut fabric, before being sent to the tailor who will cut and assemble the waistcoat to the measurements of his sponsor. It is not uncommon to meet these delicately gouachés models that testify to the endless imagination of the embroiderers and the coquetry of the elegant of the time. The court man of the eighteenth is not afraid of being "bling", he loves gold or silver threads, sequins, straw, mirrors carved faceted, srass and other "tinsel" mingled with the silk of the embroideries, to shine Of a thousand fires by the light of the candles.Beginning in 1780, traditional patterns with festoons, garlands and flower pillars were enriched with small popular figurative drawings. If the costume is fixed in a simplicity inherited from Anglomania, the fantasy still remains in the square cut vest, straight pockets without flap and small collar rising with embroidered lapels. In striped or changing fabric, it stops at the waist and leaves visible on the panties the charms, watch, pince-nez that will survive the simplification of the costume.
II. The waistcoat of man, bastion of the singularity of the "man paré"
The scenery of the short-vest waistcoats and the small collar of the Louis XVI period are full of veiled allusions inspired by fables or pastoral. They also immortalize episodes of hunting or battles (detail, ill.2), operas in fashion or even current affairs with inflatable balloons, when they do not adorn themselves with libertine representations destined to remain hidden "under the coat".
At the revolution, the waistcoat can be subversive and allows its owner to display his political loyalty as Robespierre who wore a waistcoat decorated with revolutionary figures and maxims.A fine example of this incredible waistcoat (fig. 3, below) of a nobleman freshly converted to the revolutionary cause and whose allegiance is made known by a simple tricolor knitted vest that invites you to go beyond the " Envelope ... On the pockets are embroidered the currencies "honi who thinks badly" or "Habit does not make the monk"; On the reverse of the collar, a caterpillar and a butterfly with cut wings, symbols of the abandonment of a superficial way of life at the time when the luxury of the toilets is assimilated to tyranny. But if it is fashionable to adopt a fashion less flashy to the eye one can on the contrary show its opposition to the revolution as those royalists paraded armed in waistcoats covered with flowers of Lys after the fall of the Bastille!
Under the Directoire and the Consulate, the palette of colors is attenuated, the decorative style is more restricted with a certain stiffness and stylization of the motifs.
After a few years of democratic simplicity, the Empire is witness to the return to formality of the court dress with superb dresses and ceremonial waistcoats in embroidered pinned velvet. Around 1830-1840, (see fig. 5), the shawl collar in miniature or fluffy velvet is very short. If the romantic "Dandy" does not hesitate to compress its size in a corset, under one or more vests superimposed, this last bastion of originality of an increasingly lacking of luster ends up disappearing in the second half Of the nineteenth century.
After having vegetated as part of a suit "3 pieces" uniformly gray or black, the waistcoat regained its rights in the 80s allowing to express a fantasy disappeared. Thus, with some retouching, it is not uncommon to see modern stylish ones plastering in an authentic old waistcoat during weddings or other ceremonies ...  Estimated between 300 and 500 euros, the wholesale vests of Tours or satin embroidered Louis XVI period as well as those, more rare, gold or silver brocade Louis XV period sometimes high auctions ranging from 3,000 to 7,000 euros, even being dissociated from the Habit they complete.

Provided by: Séverine Experton-DardExpert in Fabrics, Costumes and Antique Wallpapers