Double Breasted Waistcoats

I first saw one of these on a visit to Colonial Williamsburg. The double breasted waistcoat is the primary dress of most of the male shop workers, and I have to say that I absolutely love the look of them. There is just something about the transition from single breasted at the bottom, to double breasted at the top that just says: "Damn! That's a cool waistcoat."

I've been looking for something more convenient to wear when sewing in 18th century attire. Although many engravings show tailors sewing in shirts and sleeveless waistcoats, I've wanted something that I could potentially also use in my impression of Jacob Good, militia captain and affluent tavern owner, for undress wear. A workman's jacket seemed a bit too plain and utilitarian for my Good impression, so I was treading the waters of a standard sleeved waistcoat until I remembered these beauties.



These waistcoats can be seen in all sorts of places for all classes as well. There are several examples of men dressed for a hunt wearing them, but they can also be seen on shop owners and in military wear. The attached military portrait is of General John Burgoyne. If a double-breasted waistcoat is fancy enough for "Gentleman Johnny," its fancy enough for Jacob Good.

I absolutely love the finished product seen in this blog: http://historicallyspeaking.driftingfocus.com/2012/01/20/completed-project-linen-double-breasted-sleeved-waistcoat/

I will be basing my design off of this complete reproduction as well as Gentleman Johnny's waistcoat.  It will have a similar button design and placement to the Historically Speaking reproduction, but I will include complimenting internal fabric like Burgoyne's waistcoat. I plan to make it using indigo kerseymere, available from Burnley and Trowbridge, the internal color is yet to be determined.

The learning experience for this project will be drafting my own pattern. There are no commercial patterns available for a double breasted waistcoat, so I will have to make my own. I'm not quite ready to dive head-first into the deep end though, so I plan to use and existing pattern that I have and draw on the additional portion on the front to make the closure. This sounds good in theory, so it will probably go terribly in execution.