CONFEDERATE NAVAL OFFICER’S WAISTCOAT (VEST), WITH NAVAL BUTTONS

American South, c. 1862–65. Private-purchase garment of naval use. Grey wool broadcloth fronts cut in a deep V with three welt pockets (two waist, one slanted breast); four small gilt-brass (“CSN”) Confederate Navy buttons to the front, each with a fouled-anchor device (buttons underpin the naval attribution); cream polished-cotton lining and back with integral adjustment belt and metal slider. Mixed hand- and machine-stitched construction typical of mid-nineteenth-century tailoring.

A classic Confederate officer’s vest, civilian tailor-made yet suited to service wear, very much in the manner documented for Confederate Navy officers, who frequently purchased non-regulation waistcoats and combined them with service coats. The restrained grey cloth, trio of welt pockets, and original naval buttons together present a coherent naval garment of the period.

Confederate naval waistcoats are considerably scarcer than their army counterparts. Surviving examples, especially retaining original naval buttons, provide valuable insight into private-purchase practices and the mixed civilian/military dress adopted by CSN officers.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Militaria, Uniforms, Accoutrements, Ephemera, Navy, Naval]