Evening jacket

Millicent Rogers, one of Elsa Schiaparelli's most fashionable supporters, wore this evening jacket in a 1939 photograph in Vogue magazine while she was still Mrs. Ronald Balcom. In the photo, she accessorized the jacket with two cross pins, an example of her ability to wear unexpected combinations with ease, and perhaps why she often chose to wear Schiaparelli's off-beat designs. The exquisite chain link and rosette embroidery executed in two tones of metallic gold is an example of Schiaparelli's relationship with the embroidery company Lesage, which executed the work on this jacket. The way the embroidery follows the seams on the back of the jacket, similar to 18th century men's coats, is unexpected and breathtaking, an example of Schiaparelli's fearless design sense. It was also exhibited at the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos in the 2002-03 exhibit "Millicent Rogers: Fashion and Identity."