Jacket

Design House Schiaparelli French
Designer Elsa Schiaparelli Italian

Not on view

The Duchess of Windsor, then Mrs. Simpson, wore a model of this jacket in a photograph taken by Cecil Beaton at the Château de Candé. With its appliquéd baroque decoration, it epitomizes the Duchess's witty, playful sense of style. The Duchess was at her most elegant in smart, impeccably tailored suits, a look that Cecil Beaton referred to as her "trim messenger-boy's suits."

This particular jacket bears the original basting stitches establishing the grain-lines of the sleeve and back of the jacket. As it would have been rare for an unfinished garment to have been given to a client, it is likely that the client may have planned and insisted upon alterations outside the house of Schiaparelli.

Jacket, Schiaparelli (French, founded 1927), leather, plastic (cellulose nitrate), French

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.