Evening coat

Design House House of Worth French
Designer Charles Frederick Worth French, born England

Not on view

A woman's complete wardrobe from the House of Worth was sure to include outerwear like this padded evening coat of silk brocade with a floral motif on a figured satin ground. Worth's sons kept many of the key elements of their father's designs alive, such as references to historic dress. Both the color and motif of the textile in this example are reminiscent of eighteenth-century textile design. The shape of the rich velvet collar, with its trim of metallic lace, conjures associations with seventeenth-century portraits. Yet the cocoon-like shape of the jacket dates it to the early twentieth century and makes it a precursor to the clutch coat style of the 1920s.

Evening coat, House of Worth (French, 1858–1956), silk, metallic thread, French

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