Coat Check
November 12, 2011 - March 4, 2012
Just in time for cooler weather, Coat Check will display historic outerwear - coats, capes, cloaks, shawls, jackets - worn in Charleston in the past 200 years. From fur coats to delicate embroidered shawls, these garments were the finishing touch on a fashionable outfit. Even in the moderate Lowcountry climate, the winter months required a warm cover-up and fall or spring evenings might have needed a lighter wrap. Coat Check explores men's, women's and children's outerwear with an eye to fashion as well as practicality.
Coat Check highlights include two couture pieces - an elegant evening coat, made by designer Mariano Fortuny, c.1920, of his trademark stenciled velvet and a black velvet evening coat (pictured left) with beaded ornamentation designed by the couture house of Worth in Paris, c. 1912. Also selected is a fur coat worn by Charleston author Josephine Pinckney in the 1930s. Men's outerwear ranges from the elaborate, such as Benjamin Porter Fraser's silk tailcoat, c. 1820, embellished with embroidered rice plants and the South Carolina state seal on the tails, to the more utilitarian, as seen with a heavy sheepskin coat worn by Charlestonian Motte Alston Read on his Texas ranch c. 1893. Pictured above is a smartly tailored blue wool cape with green plaid wool lining, early 20th century, worn by Rose Pringle Ravenel (1850-1943) of Charleston. Lighter garments include a delicate lace shawl, worn by Charlotte Drayton Manigault in early 19th century and an Assuit shawl, covered with thousands of silver foil strips in a beautiful Art Deco design, c. 1920.
Just in time for cooler weather, Coat Check will display historic outerwear - coats, capes, cloaks, shawls, jackets - worn in Charleston in the past 200 years. From fur coats to delicate embroidered shawls, these garments were the finishing touch on a fashionable outfit. Even in the moderate Lowcountry climate, the winter months required a warm cover-up and fall or spring evenings might have needed a lighter wrap. Coat Check explores men's, women's and children's outerwear with an eye to fashion as well as practicality.
Coat Check highlights include two couture pieces - an elegant evening coat, made by designer Mariano Fortuny, c.1920, of his trademark stenciled velvet and a black velvet evening coat (pictured left) with beaded ornamentation designed by the couture house of Worth in Paris, c. 1912. Also selected is a fur coat worn by Charleston author Josephine Pinckney in the 1930s. Men's outerwear ranges from the elaborate, such as Benjamin Porter Fraser's silk tailcoat, c. 1820, embellished with embroidered rice plants and the South Carolina state seal on the tails, to the more utilitarian, as seen with a heavy sheepskin coat worn by Charlestonian Motte Alston Read on his Texas ranch c. 1893. Pictured above is a smartly tailored blue wool cape with green plaid wool lining, early 20th century, worn by Rose Pringle Ravenel (1850-1943) of Charleston. Lighter garments include a delicate lace shawl, worn by Charlotte Drayton Manigault in early 19th century and an Assuit shawl, covered with thousands of silver foil strips in a beautiful Art Deco design, c. 1920.
