Evening vest. Culture: American. Date: 1850-55.Waistcoats and vests of the 18th and 19th centuries served as a layer protection and ornamentation during a period in fashion when the coat was intended to be left open in the front. The color was often chosen to complement the suit and covered in imaginative embroideries, heavily woven patterns or shiny satins made to draw the eye. The style of the neck, the length and the hem treatment fluctuated as the tastes changed from over-sized coats of the early 18th century to narrow tightly fitted coats of the late 18th century and onward.The textile on this vest carefully alludes to a very sophisticated 18th-century serpentine striped fabric. Although vests of the second half of the 19th century were more somber this vest echoes the decorative quality of the past in plain white. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.