Evening coat, designed by Anne Talbot, London, 1913, made using a woven silk from a nineteenth century Japanese 'No' robe

Evening coat made from a Japanese woven silk, originally from a nineteenth century 'No' robe, with a design in rust, pink, blue and gold depicting birds of good luck, peonies and other traditional motifs. It has a V-neck, elbow length straight sleeves, and high waist with a long straight skirt. The coat wraps to fasten with snaps and hooks and eyes. Gold braid edges the sleeves and the front. A double row of gold braid is used on the belt and also on the square ended pendants at the side. Lining of blue crêpe de chine. Label stitched at the centre back of the neck.

This coat was worn by Miss Emilie Grigsby (1876-1964) who was a wealthy independent American who came to England from New York. She established a salon which was frequented by writers and the military. She was considered to be one of the great international beauties, with extremely pale, almost transparent skin and golden hair. She was frequently the subject of articles in the New York Times during the early 20th century. Her clothes were purchased from couturiers in London, Paris, and New York, and demonstrated an elegantly avant-garde approach to style.

The original No robe used to construct this evening coat was a style called 'atsuita', worn by leading male characters in Japanese theatre.

T.167-1967