An Indigo Dyed Vest or Back Protector: Hand Spun Cotton

early twentieth century
28" x 12", 71 cm x 30.5 cm

This rustic, hand stitched old work garment is shown inside-out to highlight its beautiful indigo dyed cotton which is hand spun and hand woven. It is faded and worn very nicely to reveal its woven structure and its attractive hand spun yarns.

This is some kind of vest: its sides are open and are joined together only by the tabs you can see on the accompanying detail photos. Presumably the open sides allowed for freedom of movement or perhaps this garment was used to protect the back from the carrying of burden. 

In any case this type of sleeveless garment is often seen and many examples can be found. This particular one is nice for its age and for its humble, well-worn indigo dyed cotton cloth.

The faded, indigo dyed cotton has yellowed a bit but in real life there is not such a contrast between the indigo and the yellowed areas: this is a bit unintentionally heightened in the photos here.

A great little vest. The dimensions above are the shoulder to bottom seam x the width of shoulder tip to shoulder tip.

Rustic, rough and beautiful.