Waistcoat
A waistcoat (sometimes called a vest in Canada and the US) is a type of garment. Today, it usually refers to the third piece of a three-piece male business suit, to distinguish it from other types of vests. Once a virtually mandatory piece of men's clothing, in the English-speaking world it is rarely seen in today's world of casual dress, although it has returned to fashion as part of businesswear in Germany.
A waistcoat is a sleeveless garment which buttons in the front and, when part of a three-piece suit is cut from the same material as the jacket and trousers. In white tie and black tie dress it can often be either black or white, and sometimes must be of a different color and material from the jacket and trousers. It can be either single-breasted or double-breasted, though single is far more common. It is worn above a dress shirt and necktie and beneath the suit coat. The term "waistcoat" derives from the fact that the coat is cut at waist level, since when it was coined, men's suit coats were cut well below the waist (see frock coat or morning coat). Before the popularization of wristwatches, a gentleman would keep his pocket watch in the front pocket of his waistcoat, attached to one of the buttons with a watch chain and fob. It is considered bad form to wear a belt with a waistcoat; instead, one should wear suspenders (braces in the United Kingdom) underneath it.
The waistcoat is one of the few pieces of clothing whose origin can be precisely dated. King Charles II of Great Britain introduced the waistcoat as a part of correct dress during the Restoration of the British monarchy. Samuel Pepys, the diarist and civil servant, wrote in October 1666 that "the King hath yesterday in council declared his resolution of setting a fashion for clothes which he will never alter. It will be a vest, I know not well how". This royal decree is the first time a waistcoat is mentioned (originally referred to as a "vest", the American usage being the original one). During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, waistcoats were often incredibly elaborate and brightly-coloured, even garish, until fashion dictated in the late nineteenth century that waistcoats be the same colour as the rest of a man's suit.
The waistcoat was a required part of men's business clothing, and even casual dress, until the mid-twentieth century. Part of its popularity stemmed from the fact that it added an extra layer of warm cloth between one's body and the elements, but the strict rationing of cloth during the Second World War, the increasing popularity of pullover sweaters and other types of heavy tops, and the increasing casualness of men's clothing in general all contributed to its decline. In the United States the waistcoat began declining during the 1940's when double-brested jackets became popular and by the 1960's they became a rarity. The waistcoat remained visible in the United Kingdom until the late 1960's. During the 1970's the waistcoat once again became a popular and fashionable garment with many businessmen and youngsters wearing it along with the rest of their suits. Movies like Saturday Night Fever helped popularise the waistcoat as a fashionable piece of dresswear. By the early 1990's the waistcoat had once again dipped in popularity as double-brested jackets made their return. Today, it is rare to see a business suit worn with a waistcoat in North America, although it is still popular among conservative-minded businessmen in the rest of the world. Some of the last professions where a waistcoat was de rigueur were banking, law, governmental agencies, and the professoriate, as a waistcoat typically added an element of maturity, stability, and gravitas to its wearer. Nowadays they may be regarded as stuffy and affectatious.
In Germany, the waistcoat has made a surprising return to popularity since approximately 2000, in a country where casual and smart casual dress had previously come to predominate even among white collar workers. Once again a common part of business attire, many German politicians wear waistcoats, including radical left-wingers such as Left Party media darling Oskar Lafontaine. Many commentators see this as part of a general return to more traditional norms of dress, deportment and working patterns in the workplace, attributed to Germany's sustained period of economic uncertainty.
It used to be said that you could tell that a man was a 'real gentleman' if he left the lowest button on his waistcoat unbuttoned. This is said to be a result of the habit of King Edward VII. While he was Prince of Wales, his balloning waistline caused him to leave the bottom button of his waistcoat undone. The story goes that his subjects took this as a style indicator and started doing it themselves. Professional snooker tournaments usually require that participants wear a waistcoat, in this case without a jacket.
In Europe it was a very popular clothing for men of all social levels in XIX and XX centuries. It appears in some regional traditional dresses in some variants.