Recycled Fashion

As throughout the eighteenth century, waistcoats remained a focal area for decoration in menswear also in the nineteenth century. Increasingly dark, drab, plain and sober woollen suits could be enlivened by more colourful patterned waistcoats, much as the ubiquitous grey or navy suit of the modern city business man is made more interesting and personal by a bright and jazzy tie. This waistcoat from the early 1840s is made of a satin-faced silk brocade, woven with a busy, all-over, multi-coloured, floral pattern, which must have been guaranteed to strike a truly dandy note.

In fact, the design is reminiscent of mid eighteenth century flower-based brocades, and this recyling of earlier patterns was particularly popular during the 1840s, when flowers and heavy silks were again fashionable. The museum has a number of women's evening dresses which have actually reused much earlier silks, and which have obviously then been worn for smart dinners or balls. Other silks were newly woven in a style resembling earlier brocades, like the satin of this waistcoat. Such bold floral patterning has been a favorite subsequently, often more cheaply printed rather than woven, and usually highly dramatic, as seen in the man's shirt of 2003 below. Clearly, a "vintage" approach will always be popular.

Full item descriptions:

"waistcoat" [1970.95]
"shirt" [2004.100], Zara

Related Themes:

Waistcoats
18th Century Men's Fashion