Jacket

Lucile (Lady Duff Gordon) designed this stylish jacket. Lucile was born Lucy Sutherland in London in 1863. She began dressmaking for friends and in 1891 opened her own fashion house. She married Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon in 1900. Lady Duff Gordon became a celebrated fashion designer, with branches in New York (1909), Chicago (1911) and Paris (1911). She was famous for her clever use of fabrics to create soft and harmonious effects, subtle colour schemes and romantic dresses. Her clients included Irene Castle and Sarah Bernhardt as well as film stars and royalty. She sold her business in 1918.

This type of understated smart costume was popular for town wear during the autumn and winter months. Heather Firbank wore this example. She was daughter of the affluent Member of Parliament Sir Thomas Firbank and sister of the novelist Ronald Firbank. In 1921 her expensive clothes, bought from leading fashion houses, were packed into trunks and put into storage, where they remained for the next 35 years. In 1960 the V&A acquired well over 100 items from her wardrobe. This collection forms an invaluable record of a stylish and wealthy woman's taste between about 1905 and 1920. Many items appeared in an exhibition at the V&A in 1960. It was called 'Lady of Fashion: Heather Firbank and what she wore between 1908 and 1921'.