Waistcoat, waistcoat (ensemble)

A young boy's summer three piece suit of white piqué. Crisp cotton piqué trimmed with boldly contrasting braid was a fashionable and practical choice for women and children to wear outdoors and on holiday. The fabric is washable and its weave structure gives it natural body. Piqué was made on a loom with a dobby mechanism, which was introduced in 1818 for the manufacture of small-scale all-over patterns and textured weaves. Boys wore frocks until between around the ages of four and six when they moved on to tunics or knickerbocker suits.

Waistcoat to match coat (38.221/10a), decorated with black wool braid applied in a pattern of scrolling leaves and edged with machine made broderie anglaise.