The horizontally striped cream and purple silk of this waistcoat is a fashionable choice strongly associated with the 1780s-1790s, the time when it was made. The cream ground is woven as a satin, the purple stripes as a left-hand twill. The waistcoat is double-breasted, with 28 silk threaded buttons, arranged in closely spaced parallel lines. The welted hip pockets follow the same angle as the hem of the short cutaway skirts and are very neatly pattern matched. The front of the waistcoat is faced with cream silk twill on the inside, the flat lining is of cream linen.
The garment was acquired from the collection of a well-to-do West Country farming family whose surname was Jane. It is probable that it was kept within the family to be used as fancy dress in the 19^th Century or early 20^th Century.