Arms Crossed and One Eyebrow Up

About this drawing

This man in a vest is wearing a piece of clothing with a surprisingly exact start date. In October 1666, King Charles II of England told his court that he was adopting a new outfit, with a long coat, knee breeches, and a waistcoat, which Americans call a vest. Diarist Samuel Pepys wrote about it at the time.

The timing mattered. London had just lived through the Great Plague and the Great Fire, and the king wanted to project some sobriety. He also hoped to break from French fashion, which ruled Europe. It worked well enough that many historians see that outfit as the great-grandfather of the modern three-piece suit.

The vest did not stay sober for long. By the 1700s, it was the showiest thing a man owned, made of silk and covered in embroidered flowers. Early ones ran nearly to the knee, then got shorter with each generation.

George Washington owned his share of fine waistcoats, and men in early America treated them as a way to signal status. When men's suits turned dark in the 1800s, the vest became the one place a gentleman could still show some color. Today it mostly appears at weddings and proms, plus the occasional western outfit. Not bad for a garment born out of a royal announcement.

• fashion
• history
• portraits
• princes