This waistcoat, and two others shown as Related Items all dating from the last years of the 18th Century, show a transition from those of earlier decades with their round necks, curved and pointed pocket flaps, and front facings diagonally cut away at the base. Fashionable examples, now little longer than just below the waist, were cut straight down the front edges and around the hem, the former folded back at the top to form lapels to a V neck; pockets had wide rectangular welts.
In keeping with late 18th Century taste for restrained elegance, this formal waistcoat of green/mauve shot silk has been delicately embroidered in cream floss silk and fine metallic thread with poppies and other unpretentious flowers and foliage. Tiny metal sequins, known as spangles, were scattered amongst them, most of them now worn away with time. The waistcoat is lined and backed in fawn cotton.
