Last year we found a very sad silk regency waistcoat in the most fabulous gold stripe. It was in too poor a shape to be useful so we decided to sacrifice it further and cut off a section in order to replicate the silk.
The resulting silk has far exceeded our expectations and we are delighted to bring it back to life as brand new waistcoats. They are cut to an authentic square hem pattern with fully functioning pockets. There are jiggers on the back which lace up for a neater fit.
The original waistcoat had horizontal stripes. We made ours vertical because our modern silk was very narrow in width. Either way is equally authentic for the upper classes of the period.
Where domestic servants were concerned, the orientation of the stripe denoted whether the wearer was an outdoor or indoor servant. Invaluable to avoid the social suicide of mistaking gardeners for footmen.
Gold /wine stripe
100% silk with 100% cotton lining.