. "From the late 17th century, men wore a three-piece suit for formal dress, comprising a coat (in French, justaucorpsor in later 18th century habit), waistcoat (veste) and breeches (culottes). In France, the whole ensemble was known as the habit \u00E0 la fran\u00E7aise. Both England and France had a good reputation for men\u2019s tailoring in the 18th century. In France, this skill was learned through a seven-year apprenticeship, at the end of which the apprentice had to produce a \u2018masterpiece\u2019 which proved his competence in the necessary skills of his trade. \n\nThis suit is cut and constructed in exactly the same way as a full-sized adult suit. It is however too small to fit a child\u2019s body, which suggests that it was made half-size on purpose so that a tailor could demonstrate his skills and show the model to a client. A miniature suit would presumably have been easier to circulate than a full-sized model and would have been less costly in materials: silks and buttons of this type were expensive commodities in this period."@en . . .