The waistcoat is making moves on our bridalwear

If there’s one piece of clothing that proves that fashion trends are cyclical, it’s the waistcoat. The sleeveless jacket style has been around since at least the 17th century, when it was meant to be worn over a shirt, but underneath an open coat or jacket. Serving as both protection and ornamentation, it would often come covered in rich embroidery or in shiny, woven fabrics suitable for courtly attire. A hundred years later, women were wearing the waistcoat as well; think of the costumes in Greta Gerwig’s 2019 adaptation of Little Women, where Jo wore a series of vests both plain and patterned, often shared with her childhood friend Theodore ‘Laurie’ Laurence.

Over time, however, the waistcoat was simplified, and by the late 1900s it came to be associated with stuffy men in boardrooms, making brief reappearances in films like Annie Hall (1977) or in designer John Galliano’s pirate-inspired graduate show in 1984. Fast forward to the early 2000s, when Kate Moss wore her plain black waistcoat with tiny shorts and a skinny scarf, and fans of the model’s style went running to Topshop to copy the look. But the waistcoat soon again faded from our imagination until now, 20 years later, when we’re deep in the throes of the waistcoat renaissance.

It’s been popping up on the runways of brands like Celine and Stella McCartney regularly since 2023 and played a starring role in Shiv Roy’s wardrobe in Succession. Now it’s percolated off the runway into stores like Cos, Zara, and H&M, and everyone from Ayo Edebiri to Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone have proven that the waistcoat is a worthy wardrobe addition.

“They add just the right amount of structure without feeling too formal, and there are so many ways to style them,” says Hyderabad-based designer Mrunalini Rao, whose own obsession with them has extended to her bridal collections. Rao has taken the tailored topper into maximalist territory: think a racerback waistcoat covered in multicoloured resham embroidery and worn over a similarly rich lehenga skirt. She offers versions in teal and deep wine; there’s even one covered in zardozi and pearls. “It just felt like the next step—to take something structured and give it the kind of intricate detailing you associate with bridalwear.”

Rao is not alone in seeing the waistcoat’s potential in a festive wardrobe. At Jodi, it’s printed with the brand’s signature block prints and accented with sequins. Payal Khandwala offers a sculptural, kimono-like version that brings a bit of her signature minimalism to Indian occasion wear. The label RajiRamniq has created shrunken little waistcoat blouses in handwoven tissue to wear with voluminous skirts or saris, while Anushka Khanna’s mirrored take has been worn by cool girls everywhere, who pair it with flared sharara pants.

The festive version of the waistcoat ditches the boardroom-ready neutral tones and spare surfaces of its international kin, but it does retain the same essential shape—cinched at the waist, buttoned up, and often styled without anything underneath. This allows for just a hint of skin, which is perfect for today’s brides and bridesmaids, who are looking to balance tradition with modernity.

Designer Punit Balana agrees. “I think a lehenga is such a classic Indian silhouette—it’s something we all turn to for weddings and festive occasions, whether you’re a bride, bridesmaid, sister or mother. But there’s always that urge to pair it with something that feels more modern and young. That’s where the idea came from. I wanted to bring two cultures together: the traditional Indian lehenga with the European-origin waistcoat.”

His version is inspired by the koti, the short, open-front jacket traditionally worn by men, but here it’s transformed. There’s no resemblance to the buttoned-up Nehru jacket we associate with our netas or the gentlemen loitering by the wedding buffet. “Our interpretation of the waistcoat is deeply rooted in craft but always viewed through a modern lens. We incorporate age-old techniques like intricate aari embroidery, hand-done gota patti, and traditional block prints that are developed in-house in Jaipur,” says Balana.

Part of the appeal of a waistcoat is its versatility as a styling tool. It’s light, androgynous, and serves as a canvas for techniques ranging from aari embroidery to bandhani dyeing. Designer Ramniq Tangri Khatri, co-founder of the label RajiRamniq says that one of their bestsellers is a black and white striped sari with a hand embroidered waistcoat blouse. “People have draped the sari in so many different ways—they’ve inserted the palla inside the waistcoat—or like me, re-worn the same sari blouse with a draped skirt, a sari, and also a lehenga.” Rao says she’s styled hers with everything from “classic red bridal lehengas to contemporary silhouettes, like flared pants and draped skirts”.

Viewed through the lens of time, the Indian waistcoat seems akin to ornate, courtly styles from 18th-century Europe. As Balana puts it, “What excites me is how something so formal has been softened, made festive, and full of personality.” Truly, that’s fashion coming full circle.