Waistcoat

An adapted garment

This waistcoat is an extensively altered version of an 18th century garment. The fronts are constructed of two different voided silk fabrics, pieced at the shoulder. The edging of one of the velvets has been cut and appliqued to the second above this pieced seam. The supplementary fabrics, lingings and the shaping of the back suggest a 19th century remake. The original waistcoat would have been longer in the body and adorned with matching embroidered buttons, none of which are intact.

Former glory

The waistcoat panels were obviously salvaged and remade into another garment due to the magnificance of the embroidery, which represents the height of 18th century French fashion and craftmanship.The panels were embroidered in a professional workshop, and feature a combination of stem and satin stitch, and French knots.  The waistcoat would have been made as part of a ‘l’habit à la française’, a suit with complementary coat and breeches.

Ethel Brilliana Tweedie

The waistcoat was bequeathed to the Dominion Museum, now Te Papa, by Ethel Alec Tweedie on her death in 1940. A well-known English journalist and travel writer, Mrs Tweedie as avid textile collector and needlewoman.