1846 waistcoat & 1845-1850 shirt & waistcoat
As the 19th century wore on, the gains of the French Revolution were wittled away by a conservative backlash & leisure-class women, confined to the domestic sphere, once again felt comfortable showing off in elaborate clothing. Menswear, however, intended to be seen in public in the full view of a still potentially rebellious working class, stayed humbly dark & plain.
One place a gentleman could safely display a little whimsy was on a waistcoat, safely hidden for the most part during the business day by his jacket, then revealed in the safe domestic sphere when he returned home. As previously, these waistcoats were often embroidered by his wife and her daughters, who had little else to do sitting at home waited on by servants all day.
As the Industrial Revolution wore on, these little self-expressions for men (& the cumbersome get-ups that increasingly swallowed ladies whole) were no longer the reserve of the leisure class either. Accessories were mass-produced & waistcoats were woven on machines for men who couldn't afford to support women doing nothing but sitting home & embroidering for them all day. Working-class men who adopted 'fancy' waistcoats, top hats, canes, & snuff boxes were known as 'gents' or 'swells'.
The waistcoat on the left was embroidered by a girl named Atkinson for her papa when she was 11 years old.
1846 waistcoat & 1845-1850 shirt & waistcoat
As the 19th century wore on, the gains of the French Revolution were wittled away by a conservative backlash & leisure-class women, confined to the domestic sphere, once again felt comfortable showing off in elaborate clothing. Menswear, however, intended to be seen in public in the full view of a still potentially rebellious working class, stayed humbly dark & plain.
One place a gentleman could safely display a little whimsy was on a waistcoat, safely hidden for the most part during the business day by his jacket, then revealed in the safe domestic sphere when he returned home. As previously, these waistcoats were often embroidered by his wife and her daughters, who had little else to do sitting at home waited on by servants all day.
As the Industrial Revolution wore on, these little self-expressions for men (& the cumbersome get-ups that increasingly swallowed ladies whole) were no longer the reserve of the leisure class either. Accessories were mass-produced & waistcoats were woven on machines for men who couldn't afford to support women doing nothing but sitting home & embroidering for them all day. Working-class men who adopted 'fancy' waistcoats, top hats, canes, & snuff boxes were known as 'gents' or 'swells'.
The waistcoat on the left was embroidered by a girl named Atkinson for her papa when she was 11 years old.