Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a waistcoat boasting an ostentatious front, but with a cheaply made (and invisible) back.

1688

R. Holme Armoury III 96/1: A [...] kind of Waistcoats are called Chates, because they are to be seen rich and gaudy before, when all the back part is no such thing.

2. sham sleeves, cuffs or wristbands, used to mask an otherwise dirty shirt.

c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Cheats also Wristbands or sham Sleeves worn (in good Husbandry) for true, or whole ones.
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.