Man’s waistcoat, felted wool embroidered with couched metal thread and applied metal braid. Red velvet waistcoat with front panel crossing over and fastening to right hand side. Front heavily decorated around the neck and diagonally half way down the front with gold thread couchwork in rows of elaborate patterning. Fastens inside front with four brass buttons, outside front the same. Two gold thread buttos and neck. Length 583mm (23").
There are loops down both sides of the front of this waistcoat, so it could be fastened left over right, or the other way round. Sometimes this is done if it would reveal a different pattern around the neck, otherwise it might simply be a case of personal preference. The general style – the colour and type of cloth and the type of embroidery – are found in former Ottoman lands like Turkey, Greece, Albania and parts of the Balkans. This cross-over front with embroidery confined to a deep diagonal band at the neck is typical for Montenegro.
