{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O85663"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O85663/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PG8059/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PG8059/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2025PG8059","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PG8057","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PG8058","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PG8060","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AL1359","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O85663","accessionNumber":"T.235&A-1976","objectType":"Evening coat","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"This evening ensemble consists of an long evening coat and a stole entirely made of plaited gilt braid. The evening coat is slightly fitted at the waist and has wide sleeves, tapering at cuffs. The stole in the shape of a short cape, tapering slightly at the ends.\r\n\r\nThe evening coat is a stunning example of designer Elsa Schiaparelli's experimenting with unusual fabrics and substances, never before connected with women's clothes. Schiaparelli viewed clothing as a type of architecture and believed it should have a strict neatness, with angles replacing feminine curves. This ensemble shows how Schiaparelli excelled in conjuring striking eveningwear with modern, forceful lines and a stylised simplicity.","physicalDescription":"Evening ensemble consisting of an evening coat and a stole entirely made of plaited gilt braid mounted on a chiffon foundation. It is lined with dark brown silk.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Elsa Schiaparelli","id":"A2375"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"gilt braid","id":"x37940"},{"text":"silk (textile)","id":"AAT243428"}],"techniques":[{"text":"machine sewing","id":"AAT257463"},{"text":"hand sewing","id":"AAT257459"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Hand-sewn plaited gilt braid on chiffon foundation, lined with silk","categories":[{"text":"Fashion","id":"THES48957"},{"text":"Textiles","id":"THES48885"},{"text":"Womenswear","id":"THES49044"},{"text":"Evening wear","id":"THES48999"}],"styles":[{"text":"Art Deco","id":"AAT21426"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":["2025PG8059","2025PG8057","2025PG8058","2025PG8060","2006AL1359"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"SAINS","id":"THES276095"},"free":"","case":"FIG102","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"SAINS","id":"THES276095"},"free":"","case":"FIG102","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Stole","id":""}],[{"text":"Evening coat","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Paris","id":"x29068"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1937","earliest":"1932-01-01","latest":"1941-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Mrs B Gurschner","dimensions":[],"dimensionsNote":"approximate footprint (mm): W800 x D600 x H1600","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Elsa Schiaparelli (1890–1973) was one of the world’s revolutionary fashion designers. Her couture house, one of the most discussed of interwar Paris, redefined fashionable taste and perceptions of beauty in the 20th century.  With no formal training, she launched her first fashion collection in 1927. Her bold, often audacious, haute couture creations soon made her the designer of choice for a confident clientele. Within five years, Maison Schiaparelli employed 400 staff who created over 7000 couture garments each year.  \r\n\r\nOften designing to confront and shock, Schiaparelli’s radical approach embraced the new and experimental, resulting in clothes that were resolutely modern. Perhaps more than any fashion designer of the era, Schiaparelli urged textile manufacturers to bring her their newest and best materials. At the same time, Schiaparelli’s impact extended beyond fashion and she possessed a vibrant artistic sensibility. Embedded within Europe’s creative avantgarde, she positioned her work in direct dialogue with art, design and performance. Her collaborations with artists, including Salvador Dalí, Jean Cocteau and Meret Oppenheim, led to some of her most radical and memorable designs for clothing, accessories and jewellery. In 1954, Schiaparelli officially retired and closed the doors of her couture salon. She left an enduring mark on the world of fashion and a creative legacy that spanned the cities of Paris, London and New York.  \r\n\r\nCoat and collar made up of flat gold braid strips. In bodice, sleeves and cape collar, 2 strips are plaited together, then sewn to each other.  As the skirt expands in volume the strips, first two, and then three, are woven in a basket weave to make strips of graduated sizes, largest  about 3” wide at hem, which are sewn together. Texture is created by the raised strip as it turns over at edges.\r\n\tPhoto notes: \r\n\tWeave detail 3: Each strip is 2 pieces gold braid plaited together  \r\n\tWeave detail and weave detail 4: basket weave of two, then three strips \r\n Sleeve: The huge bulbous sleeves are narrow at the armhole and narrow again at the sleeve opening.  Very unusual shape for a sleeve.\r\n\r\n\t Cape collar detail2 : given where the hooks and eyes are on this it seems the collar was intended to be  tight around the neck , but stiffness and size of it make it physically rather improbable.  \r\n\r\nJan G. Reeder, Curator, The Costume Institute, The Metropolitan Museum of Art\r\nTaken May, 2011, Compiled September, 2011\r\n","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Evening ensemble with coat and stole, designed by Elsa Schiaparelli, Paris, France, ca. 1937","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Haute couture","id":"THES48861"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["T.235A-1976","T.235-1976"],"accessionNumberNum":"235","accessionNumberPrefix":"T","accessionYear":1976,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Stole","Evening coat"],"assets":["2024PA4301"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-03-23","recordCreationDate":"2003-11-13","availableToBook":false}}