Cape

This evening cape designed by Jeanne Lanvin (1864–1946) is a good example of her consummate knowledge of fabrics and characteristic love of textures. During the 1930s, fashion designers created boleros and short capes to emphasise the length and fluid shapes of evening gowns. The waist-length evening cape is made of purple silk velvet ruched to achieve the effect of Astrakhan fur. It has a wide rounded square falling collar fastening at the neck with a silvered button. The ruching, moulded on chiffon, is vertical over the shoulder, and horizontal on the collar and on the rest of the garment. It is lined with satin matching the dress. This cape shows a very avant-garde design for the period.

Cape · Paris · 1935. Silk velvet, chiffon, lined with satin. By Jeanne Lanvin. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.