S-M: Eignet sich am besten für Personen mit einem Hüftumfang zwischen 75 - 105 cm L-XL: eignet sich am besten für Personen mit einem Hüftumfang zwischen 95 - 135 cm Material: 3,5 mm starkes Rüstleder Hersteller: Andracor Dieser massive Rüstgürtel mit drei Schnallen bietet zuverlässigen Schutz um die Hüften und lässt sich sehr individuell auf jeden Träger einstellen. Die Platten lassen sich entweder so schieben, dass sie die Hüfte oder den Bauchbereich schützen. Tipps zur Pflege von unseren Lederprodukten findet ihr hier. Tipps und Tricks wie ihr eure Rüstungsteile individualisieren könnt findet ihr hier. Lieferumfang ein Gürtel

Voici des photos historiques incroyables qui ont marqué l'Histoire. Elles sont la preuve d'événements rares et cruciaux. - Page 6 sur 69

"Dress in the country varies considerably in many matters from that worn in Town. A boy's first 'country suit' after he leaves school is a great event to him. At Eton and Harrow the style of dress might almost be called a uniform, and the first suit of tweeds mark the emancipation from school-life. When in the country he dons these the first thing in the morning, unless he should be on hunting or bycycling thoughts intent, or should incline towards tennis, boating, or the slow delights of angling.... ...Invitations to breakfast in the country are by no means unusual. The dress would consist of that ordinarly worn in the mornings, whether tweed suit, knickerbockers, hunting, or riding gear, or the black morning-coat or suit." ~Exerpt from Manners for Men by Mrs. Humphry, the "Madge" of "Truth" Portraits by Lord Lagerfeld

These vibrant cultures were slaying their fashion game long before the runway was invented.

Porting over an old popular post from my other place on the web. So if you see this on another site, it's still me. Originally post back in 2007 This was before I was making my patterns in CAD. This was not my first time taking a pattern off an old garment, I had done a Victorian bustle dress in a Friends collection earlier. This was however the first time I shared a pattern online. I have fond memories of taking the pattern off while my eldest child was in the highchair. Or my Tribute to the late great Janet Arnold. Women's Land Arm Corduroy Breeches My mother bought these for me at a used Clothing store in Washington State, USA. I like odd clothing. The Women's Land Army was a British war time task force mobilizing women to take over jobs that men used to do, mainly farm work, from what I can tell. There is a LOT of pictures and text in this post, which is why most of it is hidden, so click for more. Lots more photos in detail! The breeches were made by Redman Bros of Hebden Bridge Picture of the Tag Tag Reads: Breeches Corduroy Women's Land Army Size 3 Height 5ft 4in to 5ft 6in Waist 24in to 26 in Hips 36 in to 38 in REDMAN BROS. 1942 There is a small black triangle at the bottom of the tag. Photos of the breeches when worn Photo of the breeches laid flat Detail Photos Lacing from outside Lacing from inside (lacing Protector pulled out of the way) Lacing protector Front Waist showing button holes, belt loop, and pocket Inside front waist, showing pockets Inside Back Waist showing facings Buttons from the top Buttons from the side The twill tape covering the crotch seam More information, Pattern and sewing directions! Tan cotton corduroy, pockets and facings are of slightly more green than tan cotton twill, the waist band facings are of army green cotton sateen. There are 9 wales of cord per inch Three 5/8 inch green four holed buttons on each side close the breeches. The buttonholes are stitched in tan thread, there appears to be a green thread underneath the stitching (corded buttonholes?) Two pockets in the front. Four belt loops, two in front, and two in back. Lacing at Calf through 5 pairs of one-piece eyelets. Eyelet opening is 3/16" Exterior rim is 5/16" Eyelets start 1" up from the hem and are spaced 7/8" between centers Lacing cord is tan cotton and between 40 and 46" long (I didn't unlace them) the ends are encased in plastic, just as with modern shoelaces. Seam allowances are approximately 3/8 of an inch. The corduroy has not had any seam treatment, and is lightly frayed, the twill and sateen have been turned under. There is 1/2 inch wide green/tan twill tape on some of the seams in crotch seam (partially) and the back calf seam (completely). The twill tape is also used as binding over the lacing protector flap and at the cuff of the breeches. The ends of the twill tape are turned under before being stitched on. When used as binding, it is stitched in place in one step. Pattern is drawn on Graph paper, one square equals 1" All Teal colored lines are showing where additional pieces or stitching goes. The Front The Back The Front Waist and the Back Cuff The Twill Pocket and facings The Sateen waist facings To make up. First enlarge the pattern to full scale. One square equals one inch. Enlarge the full scale pattern if you need a larger size. (For this you might need to know something about grading patterns.) Add seam allowance to every piece except the lacing protector flap, the sides of the belt loops, the bottom of the pocket facing on the waistband, and the cuff. Cut out your pieces from your fabric Yardage required as estimated from the patterns 2 1/4 yards of at least 36" wide Corduroy. (Might be possible to get everything out of 1 yard of 60" wide.) 1/2 yard of twill 1/4 yard of sateen 2 1/2 yards of ½” wide twill tape Stitching order deduced from the breeches. Sew the back cuff to the back leg. Press seams open and cover with twill tape. Right Sides Together sew Pocket to the front of the breeches. Turn Right Sides Out and Top Stitch Lay Waistband with Pocket Facing over the pocket and top stitch in place ½” from the cut edges of the pocket facing. Stop stitching 1” from the side seam Stitch Front Waistband to Front Breeches. Reinforce pocket by top stitching a small rectangle as shown near the belt loop. Fold Pocket along fold line, press. Turn Seam Allowances inward and press. Stitch along outside edge, about 1/8” in from edge. Leave 1” open at upper inner edge towards Center Front. Fold in Seam Allowance of pocket and breeches along side and top stitch shut. Fold all seam allowances under on the back flap facings. Turn under the side seam allowance on the back breeches. Top stitch Facing in place. Sew Side Seam of Breeches. Stitch the overlap of the back facing in place. Reinforce pocket opening by stitching as shown on pattern. Fold all edges of Lacing Facings and press Turn under Side Seam Allowances on breeches Top stitch Facings in place. Bind the top and side edge of the Lacing Protector with twill tape. Stitch Lacing Protector in place along teal lines. Sew legs together along inseam first and press open, then sew the legs together along the center front/center back seam, again pressing open seams. Cut two pieces of twill tape, each 8” long. Turn under ends and center over the Center seam, then the inseam. Fold up one end of the belt loops. Fold belt loops in thirds and stitch down center. Sew waistband facings to get at center, press open. Fold under side seams Sew tag to waist band. Right Sides Together sew the waist band to breeches, catch the belt loops in between at the correct placement. Turn Right Sides Out, turn under raw edges and Top Stitch. Fold belt loops down to correct paces and stitch in place. Bind Hem in Twill Tape Sew on Buttons Sew Buttonholes Insert Eyelets Feel free to send this link out to anyone who may be interested, but please do not copy there pictures or the pattern! Comments or Questions can be directed to me [email protected] I would LOVE to see anyone who has made this pattern up share pictures. Here is Rebecca Shelly's recreation There is a ton more research online about these breeches now than when I first posted the research. Here is a lovely post by Crows Eye Prodcutions on recreating a pair of WLA breeches, it is nice to compare they two pairs together,

by Denise Tanaka. Published in the September/October 2015 issue of Finery. Recently I went shopping for a Victorian gentleman’s walking cane. The cheap plastic ones at the Halloween costume warehouses are… well, cheap looking. The very nice ones sold online are $50 and up— beyond my budget for outfitting a relative who may never wear the costume again. So I […]

Hooray, let’s get to it! So I want to make clear something I maybe didn’t make crystal clear back in the bottom layers post: men are not to be seen in public in their bottom layers. Being on a barricade is no excuse to be without your waistcoat. Without your hat, definitely. Without your coat, yeah sure. Without your cravat, yeah okay. With your sleeves rolled up, okay, I guess. Without your waistcoat? Cover up, you man-slut. This is the importance of the waistcoat to the outfit: it is the dividing line between “oh, we’re being audacious and under-dressed in the street,” and “oh shit, we’re flashing everybody.” ^^^Oh yes, son, I’m talking to you. #no scrubs. The waistcoat ca. 1830 is a beautiful article of clothing, second only to its more distinguished brother, the coat. The waistcoat goes a long way towards shaping the man into that fabulous hourglass silhouette. It provides a tight, fitted contrast to the looseness of the shirt sleeves, it covers up the weird button-a-licious ugliness of the top of the trousers, it gives shape and padding to the chest, and it hopefully has an eye-catching color or material that will really make the outfit pop. There’s nothing quite so beautiful as this view of an 1830s man: The waistcoat has one advantage over the coat: it is easy to fit to many different sizes and shapes of torso, since it adjusts in the back. Also unlike the coat, the waistcoat requires very little fabric, and very, very little fabric that will actually be seen in public. A waistcoat is almost always composed of two different fabrics and sometimes three: the front fabric, the back fabric, and sometimes a lining fabric that is different from both of these. Fancy front: Basic back: This is done as a cost-cutting measure. When a man is fully dressed, the cut of his coat doesn’t allow any part of the waistcoat but the front and part of the collar to be seen: This means that while the front of waistcoats are often cut from expensive silks, the back and lining can be cut from a cheap, durable, breathable fabric like muslin or cotton. This is an extremely, and I mean extremely, common way of constructing waistcoats in this period. In making this post, I couldn’t find a single example in my image collection of a waistcoat made entirely out of good fabric. Staying in fashion is already expensive enough in this period without having to end up paying for more costly fabric than you need. Tailors and their clients are so damned cheap, in fact, that sometimes when they cut the fabric for the waistcoat collar, they actually cut it in multiple pieces, with front fabric for the front lapels of the collar and scrap fabric for the back of the collar (which in theory wouldn’t be seen when he’s wearing a coat): Damn! Not an inch wasted! Hope that coat collar doesn’t shift too much, bro, or you’ll be revealed as the total cheapskate that you are! The fact that this shortcut is usually employed in constructing waistcoats really speaks to the expectation that a gentleman will never remove his coat in polite society. In our period, the structure of the waistcoat can vary a bit. It can be cut low or high, with as few as three buttons or as many as you can fit from hem to throat. ^^^Cut low, with three buttons. ^^^Cut high, with lots of buttons. They may sometimes have lots of buttons and the wearer may choose to leave some unbuttoned anyway for fashion’s sake, like so: They can be single-breasted… …or double-breasted… …but single-breasted seems to have been more fashionable, since it shows up more frequently in the fashion plates, esp. in the middle of our period (ca. 1830). You may have noticed from these examples that waistcoats of this period seem to be cut somewhat, well, short in the waist. Like, awkwardly short. Well, as we’ve seen previously, trousers are cut quite high in the waist, so that the two layers always have an overlap. The reason for both of these trends (which of course feed off of each other) is that the silhouette men are aiming for is an hourglass, and this hourglass shape is meant to be cinched at the natural waist, which is actually pretty high on most people: It’s the point at which your torso is naturally able to bend, i.e., beneath your ribcage, but above your hips. This natural waist is where 1820s-1830s men wanted to train their waist to be narrowest: hence, the spot where the waistcoat would typically taper to an end, almost like a little corset. It is also the place where the tailcoat or redingote would have its horizontal seam separating body and tails, but more on that next time. Let’s talk about lapels. Lapels are the flaps on the front of a waistcoat, and though there are many various shapes and sizes that these can take in the 1820s-1830s, the waistcoats most popular in this period bear something called a shawl collar. Shawl collars (also seen on some coats of this period) are sometimes called rolled collars, a name that seems apt considering their shape: ^^^As seen in fashion illustration. ^^^As seen in real life. (I love, love, love this piece, by the way–incredible embroidery. I was lucky enough to see it on display a few months back at the Museo del Traje in Madrid.) While most vests and coats that we are familiar with nowadays have notched lapels, or at least a collar and lapels that are cut as separate pieces, the shawl collar is actually collar and lapels all “rolled” into one. (See what I did there? ;)) They are extremely characteristic of the mid-nineteenth century, but trying to establish whether a waistcoat is 1820s, 1830s, or 1840s is pretty tough based only on the collar/lapels, because the style continues to be popular throughout these decades and many men have conservative fashion taste. In later decades it will lose ground to notched lapels, but in our period, the shawl collar is cutting edge fashion. Of course, that’s not to say that all waistcoats are cut with a shawl collar. Old-fashioned styles persist, especially when it comes to what people were actually wearing (as opposed to the “haute couture” seen in fashion plates). Tall standing collars with no lapels, a fashion common in the earliest decades of the nineteenth century, are still widely worn, especially in white or beige colors (these are generally conservative colors for a waistcoat and better suited for dressy outfits). This high-cut waistcoat style is helpful for allowing the waistcoat to be worn under a high-buttoning coat, but it can also be worn under a typical ca. 1830 low-cut tailcoat: ^^^Waistcoats of the more conservative “standing collar” variety worn under low-cut coats. ^^^More high-buttoned waistcoat examples. (Except, to be precise, the latter example has, um, no buttons at all. ????) ^^^High-buttoned coats with appropriate waistcoats, usually thought of as an 1810s-1820s trend, continue to be worn into our period as well. Some may even wear more extreme lapels on their waistcoats, such as those found on a style called the “gilet à la Robespierre”/“gilet à la Marat”/“gilet à la guillotine.” This refers to a style of waistcoat with wide lapels that flop back practically onto the shoulders, as popularized during the Revolution: (The gilet à la Robespierre is, notably, the only article of clothing that Grantaire thinks capable of impressing Enjolras. Did it work? Hugo doesn’t tell us, but we could be justified in thinking that no article of clothing exists with the power to get Enjolras to give two shits about something that is not the Republic.) These broad lapels are still seen as late as these 1834 fashion plates, for instance: More examples of waistcoats with notched or flap lapels: ^^^Notched. ^^^Flap. Here’s a real-life example of a peculiar hybrid lapel, half shawl collar and half Robespierre lapel, with buttons to hold down the wide points, no less: In general, the progression in our period is from flap lapels and standing collars at the beginning of the period (ca. 1825), towards shawl collars and notched lapels at the end of the period (ca. 1835). Later decades will see a more and more clear preference for the notched lapels so familiar to twentieth- and twenty-first-century fashion. Amenities! The waistcoat is equipped with some practical features that make the 1830s man’s life a little easier. The foremost of these is the pocket. It’s hard to conceive of a waistcoat design without any pockets, and usually they have two, three, or more. The coat also has pockets, but it seems like the waistcoat is optimal for tiny precious items, like coins or pocket-watches. ^^^An illustration showing a watch fob and the watch sitting in a waistcoat pocket. (This guy also has another chain that looks like it’s attached to a eyeglass of some kind, tucked into the top of his waistcoat. Pimp.) Typical waistcoat pockets are the little horizontal ones seen down around the waist, but many waistcoats also feature pockets up further, near the armpits: Besides pockets, waistcoats also have other helpful design features, some of which are intended to train the man’s figure into the popular hourglass shape. This can be done through both padding and cinching. As we already know, men in this period have the possibility of using various types of male corset underneath their waistcoat: Whether or not a man chooses to use a corseting device, the waistcoat itself should serve this function to some extent. The waistcoat is meant to fit very snugly, and to do this, its fit may be adjusted in the back, either by way of lacing… …or a buckle… …or both: It seems to me that lacing is more likely on earlier waistcoats and buckles more likely on later ones, but perhaps that’s just an oversimplification. Lacing can be either fabric strips, as in the red example shown above, or (more commonly) bias tape, like these: Often it is actual lacing that goes through eyelets: Eyelets, as in all garments of this period, might be metal (sometimes covered by thread so as to prevent rust stains and frayed laces), or they may simply be made of thread. The lacing panel may be a narrow panel (as in the above example) or a wider one, as in this example, which shows lacing panels that make up a significant portion of the back of the waistcoat: In general, the wider the lacing panel, the more precise the fit, I would think. Here’s the laced waistcoat shape as seen from the side: On a human body this would be tightened such that the front panels would lie flat and tight, while the back panels would be gathered and a bit poofy under the lacing. This is another reason why the front panels ideally should be made of a stiffish fabric like silk or wool and the back panels of a loose, light fabric like muslin. The desire to have a tight fit can sometimes make for awkward construction in real life, of course. This guy is modeling the weird buckling and strain on the front fabric that occurs when the garment is laced too tight: Over time that would result in serious wear and tear on the buttons and on the garment seams (especially when we remember that these garments were stitched by hand). That would be one argument in favor of using a male corset to do the heavy lifting of cinching your waist instead of relying on a waistcoat alone to do that job. Now, an hourglass silhouette relies not exactly upon just a narrow waist, but rather upon the contrast between a narrow waist and a wide chest and wide hips. The wider the chest and hips appear, the narrower the waist appears. This is why ca. 1830 fashion for both men and women seeks not only to cinch the waist, but equally to pad the chest and hips. For men, the waistcoat begins this process, and the coat finishes it (as we’ll see in a future post). Enhancing the male chest is usually accomplished by quilting an extra layer of padding into the chest of the garment, sandwiched between the outer layer of fabric and the lining fabric. ^^^No padding on this example, but that’s the spot where it would be located if it were there. Stick a nice layer of cotton batting in there, quilt that shit up, and voilà! Instant burly barrel chest for our 1830s man! This is a technique much more commonly seen in coats, and we’ll see plenty of it in that post. Enough with practicality–on with beauty! The fabrics used for waistcoats varied widely according to the occasion the garment was intended for. Wedding waistcoats are the most common type of nineteenth-century waistcoat surviving today, presumably because clothing used for special occasions was preserved as a memento of the occasion. So like wedding gowns, wedding waistcoats are frequently seen in museum and private collections today. The comparison is warranted, too, for the wedding waistcoat is like a man’s version of the wedding dress: it is the primary piece of a man’s formal outfit that allows for all his wealth, opulence, and taste to be displayed. The choice of fabric says a lot about the state of a man’s finances, or at least how much he is willing to spend on his clothing. Silks are most common for wedding, opera, and evening dress, while plainer and cheaper fabrics like wool, cotton, piqué, linen, etc., were used for less formal occasions, like everyday wear. Velvet, another common material for waistcoats, seems to have been used mostly for informal outfits. Burnout, voided, and ciselé velvet in particular are used to produce some pretty memorable patterns (see below). Waistcoat fabric patterns and colors in this period were becoming a complicated minefield for the fashionable man to brave. While the earlier decades of the nineteenth century had tended more towards plainer colors and patterns, the period ca. 1825-1835 saw an explosion of color and pattern, similar to the wonderfully colorful and eccentric cravats sprouting up in the same period. Waistcoat patterns/colors in this period can range from the subtle and classy to the deliciously tacky. ^^^A ca. 1830 burnout velvet waistcoat featuring a repeating pattern of neoclassical-style Lafayette heads. What’s that? You don’t fucking believe me? Fuck, is that tacky! But maybe if you’re a Lafayette fan….? (It breaks my heart to think that there was probably some well-meaning republican behind this waistcoat…like, a republican with the fashion sense of J. Prouvaire.) Wedding waistcoats tended more towards the “subtle and classy” side of the spectrum, with their pale, muted color palette and tiny, unassuming floral patterns: Many of these repeating patterns have motifs so small and subtle that they can only be really appreciated up close: The colors of waistcoats for special occasions were usually white, black, or cream: white or cream for weddings and for evening, ball, and opera dress; black for funerals and other formal occasions. ^^^White formal waistcoats, perhaps wedding waistcoats. ^^^Black formal waistcoats, the bottom one with a charming subtle pattern. Some of this was open to individual taste, e.g., an Enjolras would be more likely to show up to an event in black waistcoat and black coat (inviting snide comments from fashionable young people, I am sure). By the 1830s, colored waistcoats were increasingly encouraged for more formal occasions, but some would say that they were still more appropriate for day dress. The most common colors were shades of blue, yellow, oranges and browns, with red reserved only for very foolhardy waistcoats. :) Red also seems to have been the most fashionable color for the inner layer of the double waistcoat, as I’ll discuss below. Patterns on colored waistcoats can vary from small repeating patterns, like the ones on the formal waistcoats above, to larger floral patterns, to plaid patterns of various sizes. ^^^A striking silk brocade with a large floral pattern. ^^^Another colorful floral pattern, this one smaller and repeating. ^^^Silk brocade (I believe). ^^^Another silk brocade. ^^^OMG, no. Hey, 1830s fashion designers: when your cravat boasts a giant, eye-popping latticework pattern, please remember not to pair it with your polka-dotted waistcoat. Please. For all of our sakes. ^^^Another attractive floral silk brocade. ^^^Either burnout velvet (a pattern created by a chemical burn process) or ciselé velvet (fabric whose pile has been cut into different heights to create a pattern) or voided velvet (fabric that’s been woven with different heights of pile to create a pattern). ^^^Printed cotton. (You can see just how cheap this tailor was: even the fabric underneath the lapels is scrap fabric! He’s banking on the hope that the lapels will lie flat and cover the cheap substitution.) ^^^Linen plaid. ^^^A couple more plaids of varying width. ^^^Fine silk brocade in epic orange. My favorite waistcoat ever, bar none. WOW! Damn, I’d go after any guy wearing this…! Besides color and pattern, a waistcoat could also be punched up by other types of decoration, especially embroidery, but also quilting and appliqué of various types. ^^^Two examples of a type of quilting called “Marseilles broderie,” commonly used for Provençal waistcoats but also for export textiles. ^^^A waistcoat that is actually printed, but is an imitation of Marseilles broderie. ^^^Weird embroidered velvet waistcoat. When embroidery is used on waistcoats, it’s usually done along the lapels and/or along the front center closure line (i.e., under or alongside the buttons) and sometimes extended along the front bottom hem as well. Just as with 18th century coats and waistcoats, it seems likely that the embroidery was done before the fabric pieces were stitched together, and then the garment was constructed around the embroidery (instead of the embroidery being stitched onto the finished garment). Such a process required great planning and design before the pattern pieces were even cut. ^^^Pretty purple embroidered waistcoat. ^^^A fashion plate showing a waistcoat with a similar type of embroidery along the lapels and front. (Also, the colorist flubbed the shirt cuff color. Whoops!) ^^^Simple white-work embroidery on a white waistcoat. I am particularly fond of this ca. 1830 Canadian waistcoat, which is embroidered with–wait for it–moosehair. Yes, of course moosehair: (Moosehair, if anybody’s wondering, is apparently traditionally used for embroidery in some Canadian native tribes, though usually for embroidery on animal skins like leather. I wonder if this waistcoat is an example of native embroidery skills being adapted to appeal to the “export market,” so to speak? Or perhaps a waistcoat worn by a native himself? It’s an outstanding piece, whatever the original provenance–that black satin really makes the embroidery colors pop!) One of the most fascinating types of waistcoat, to me anyway, is the double waistcoat, usually involving some kind of false under-waistcoat. These are commonly seen in fashion plates of the period: Looking closely, you can see that the models appear to be wearing two waistcoats: there’s the main one on top, plus one underneath that just barely shows its collar as a strip peeking out from beneath the collar.of the top waistcoat. The bottom waistcoat is worn to provide another contrasting color or pattern that can help set off the color or colors of the top waistcoat and the cravat. I’d seen a lot of these showing up in fashion plates and wondered if they really existed, that is, if anyone actually wore them. The answer, surprisingly, is yes, they did exist, and yes, people wore them. (Damn, that makes me sweat just thinking about it! Who says women are the only ones who suffer for fashion?) ^^^A portrait featuring a double waistcoat in evening dress. The under-waistcoat is bright red, just like in the fashion plates. (I love this color combination: the little hint of red just makes the black and white look super crisp. Fab!) And no, under-waistcoats aren’t just a fake collar insert or a dickey of some sort, which is kinda what I figured they’d be (can you tell my training is in costume design for theatre?). They are something like that, though, and they follow the usual logic of waistcoat construction, i.e., the less fabric, the better: I believe that the above are examples of false waistcoats meant to go beneath other waistcoats, which is why only the collar is made with real fabric. The below examples are, I think, meant to be the main waistcoat, but meant to go beneath a coat that would be partially buttoned up (meaning most of the waistcoat wouldn’t be seen, but more of it would be seen than for those designed to be hidden beneath another waistcoat). Frugality taken to the level of an art form. Love it. Okay, so far so good, right? I’m about to take all that goodwill I’ve built up with this post and make it evaporate. Sigh. Okay, let’s roll up our sleeves and get into it. This infamous vest, which I have occasionally heard referred to as a waistcoat in the fandom, is not going to get away scot-free with its fashion crimes. Let’s be serious for a moment here. I got into this fandom when I was probably 13 or so, of course by way of the musical (though in my day, this was by watching the 10th Anniversary concert–whoa, am I that old!). And yes, I loved this thing when I first saw it. It has wonderful qualities for a piece of theatre costume: it visually sets apart a character who is called by name only once in the entire musical, it imbues him with authority and charisma and that je-ne-sais-quoi of stage presence. On that level, I marvel at how effective a costume it is. It probably helped win Michael Maguire a fucking Tony, for God’s sake! That’s a hell of a coup for a costume. And yes, it is a bitch to make. I would know; I stitched one by hand for Halloween a few years back. WTH was I thinking??? ^^^My own personal red monstrosity. :3 Now we are going to be grownups. This vest is historically ridiculous in almost every possible way. Totally aside from the fact that, well, Hugo’s Enjolras would give you the evillest eye imaginable if you tried to get him to wear something so gaudy, there is pretty much no way in hell to justify this garment’s presence on the body of a young civilian man leading a barricade in 1832. It’s not hard to find the inspiration for the garment. ^^^A diagram version by Tim Reese. ^^^Also seen in this (much later) painting. These are French hussar uniforms from the Napoleonic period, and the dolman (the under-jacket) seems to share the same colors and decorations as the “Enjolras vest.” Let me draw your attention to several features of these uniforms: 1.) They are for hussars, aka light cavalry soldiers. 2.) They are from the Napoleonic period, i.e., 1799-1815. 3.) They have sleeves. 4.) They have collars. 5.) Did I mention they have sleeves? 6.) They are designed to be worn buttoned up. 7.) Did I mention they are for hussars? I will readily admit that I know very little about military uniforms of this or any period, and probably the hussars of the 1820s-1830s wore uniforms not radically different from these. Even discounting that, it takes an awful lot of “fanfic fill-in-the-blank” to get to the point where we can reasonably accept that Enjolras would be wearing a hussar dolman unbuttoned, with the sleeves and collar chopped off. In public. Why would this ever make sense? Is it because he carries a carbine (typical cavalry weapon) to the barricade? Am I overthinking this? I mean, this is the guy who flew off the handle when somebody tried to insinuate the awesomeness of Napoleon. This is the guy who has no problem brutally mowing down soldiers of the line. He’s the last person I would think would want to represent himself in (bright ass red and gold) military terms. He is also clearly not the sort of ruthless brute who would mutilate clothing. That last bit is just my personal opinion. So yes, I am annoyed and perplexed by this vest, and I will not dignify it with the name of “waistcoat,” because that is not what it is. It’s disappointing that the fandom has been held captive by its evil magnetic powers for as long as it has. They were absolutely, positively, 100000000000% correct to cut this thing from the Les Mis musical movie. (Of course, what they replaced it with, well, that’s a conversation for another day.) As a final note, I’ll just leave you with this real foolhardy waistcoat: Perhaps not a gilet à la Robespierre, but indeed “rouge,” as Grantaire would say. :)

Checkout some of the best ideas of ♂ Hausa clothing styles: male designs ♂ Despite the fact that every year there are new features in the fashion, native styles are still of great value, used for everyday and solemn occasions.