Label Type
Cultural/Historical ContextLabel
Afghan/Ottoman vest. It was likely acquired around 1970 by Indiana artist Virginia Spalding during her her two year residency in Afghanistan. She developed a large collection of Middle Eastern and Afghan artifacts that she donated to Purdue Galleries in 1998.
This velvet vest is of Ottoman origin and takes inspiration from the yelek, a waistcoat that reaches the hips and is usually made of velvet or silk with gold embroidery. The yelek is another form of farmala (waistcoat). Farmalas come in a range of lengths: hip length (yelek) knee length (entari), or ankles (qaftan). The inside is lined with lightly quilted cotton and has two small pockets, which are typical of yelek design.
This style of vest rose to popularity during the late 1960s due to the rock musician Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix was known for his exotic clothing, including his extravagant vests and waistcoats. He bought a similar velvet, gold-embroidered vest from the Phoenix, a store that specialized in clothing from Central Asian countries like Afghanistan. This vest is now housed in the Smithsonian Collection. As a result of Hendrix, velvet vests were a fashion trend in the late 1960s and became popular souvenirs. Many are now in private ownership or are for sale.