Lately I've been working on a waistcoat to go under my Snowshill riding habit. I really love the look of this menswear inspired style, but before jumping in, I needed to take a closer look at the evolution of the waistcoat throughout the 18th century.
Ladies throughout the 18th century appeared to wear riding habit jackets both buttoned up closed or open over a matching or complimenting waistcoat, as shown above (1740). The waistcoat shape changed throughout the century, as of course the coats atop them did - some had very large skirtings, and some had no skirts at all:
Large-Skirted Waistcoats (1740s - 1760s)
Short-Skirted Waistcoats (1770s - 1780s)
Skirt-less Waistcoats (1770s - 1790s)
As you can see, there is overlap.
For my riding habit, my date range is 1730 - 1750, so I'll be going with a skirted waistcoat. My efforts thus far have not worked out (that's for a later post), but I think I've finally got the pattern *just right,* so will be making up the final version in ivory taffeta, with a linen back. Silver trim is a maybe. Onward!
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Lancret, “Picnic after the hunt,” 1740 |
Large-Skirted Waistcoats (1740s - 1760s)
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| Robert Harvie, portrait of a lady in a blue coat and skirt, c. 1747 |
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| The Met, 1760 |
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| Thierry de Maigret, mid-18th c. |
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| Antoine Pesne, Prinzessin Amalia von Preussen, before 1757 |
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| The Met, 1775 - there's no waist seam, but the front of the vest extend beyond the waist, and would have flared over the petticoat/habit skirt, to form the little skirtings of the waistcoat. edit: The Met doesn't state whether this is a woman's waistcoat or a man's. it's hard to tell - there's no waist seam or bust dart, but are the CF edges curved? |
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| LACMA, c. 1780 |
| Cesare Augusto Detti, "The Amazon of Perugia" - this is a late Victorian genre painting, but shows the short-skirted waistcoat styles |
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| Joseph Kreutzinger, Marie Antoinette im roten Jagdkostum, 1771 |
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| V and A, 1790s |
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| V and A, watercolor painting, c. 1785 |
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| Lady on Horseback, Joseph Campeche, 1785 |
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| Jane, Duchess of Gordon, by daniel Gardner, c. 1775-1780 |
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| Yale Center for British Art: George Haugh, The Countess of Effingham with Gun and Shooting Dogs, 1787 |
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| V and A, 1770-1775 |
For my riding habit, my date range is 1730 - 1750, so I'll be going with a skirted waistcoat. My efforts thus far have not worked out (that's for a later post), but I think I've finally got the pattern *just right,* so will be making up the final version in ivory taffeta, with a linen back. Silver trim is a maybe. Onward!
