Suit

Charles James

1933 · wool · Costume Institute

The coat of this suit references the jackets of the Incroyables of the French Directoire and the dandies of the English Regency. The collar, cut high as in the historical precedents, falls in soft folds and wrinkles like the neckerchief of a fop. James seamed together the “tails” of the coat to form a low back cowl drape. Of the style, James wrote: “The cutaway look was at this time [1933] not at all in the ‘market’....It simply looked well and gave the wearer a distinction.”

Artist

Charles James

Date

1933

Medium

wool

Culture

American

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Purchase, Costume Institute Benefit Fund, Friends of The Costume Institute Gifts, and Acquisitions Fund, 2013