Evening jacket

Elsa Schiaparelli|House of Lesage

winter 1938–39 · silk, metal · Costume Institute

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."

Artist

Elsa Schiaparelli|House of Lesage

Date

winter 1938–39

Medium

silk, metal

Culture

French

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Millicent Huttleston Rogers, 1951