the.com/waistcoat
the formal vest that survived its sleeves and became pure swagger.
means A close-fitting sleeveless garment worn over a shirt and under a jacket, typically buttoning down the front and forming part of a three-piece suit.
from A plain compound of "waist" plus "coat" — literally a coat for the waist — dating to the 17th century, when it described a far longer, sometimes sleeved garment than today's trim vest. The pronunciation famously drifted: many older British speakers said "weskit," a worn-down spelling-be-damned form that survived for centuries before the careful "waist-coat" reasserted itself. "Waist" itself traces back to Old English and the idea of where the body "grows" or swells; "coat" comes via Old French "cote" from a Germanic root for a garment.
- royal origin
- Charles II launched it in 1666 as English fashion
- name confusion
- Americans say vest, Brits say waistcoat, same garment
- world cup star
- Gareth Southgate's 2018 version sold out in shops
- last button
- Traditionally left undone, a habit blamed on King Edward VII
three-piece suit waistcoat — traditional british formal wear combining jacket, waistcoat, and trousers, worn at royal events like ascot
peaky blinders waistcoat — 1920s-style flat cap and waistcoat worn by birmingham gang members in the bbc series set in post-wwi england