Last week you were divided on the individual garments that made up the men’s ensemble which I presented you. The jacket was universally liked, but the pleated stirrup pants were not so popular, dragging the ensembles ratings down to a 6.3 out of 10
This week I present you with a singe garment, rather than a full ensemble, so you don’t have to worry about not liking bits and pieces of the ensemble (though you might not like bits and pieces of the individual garment!)
There are multiple views of this striking 1891 evening mantle by Emile Pingat with Islamic inspired designs and aqua marabou trim, so you can experience it from different angles.
We have the front:
Emile Pingat, mantle, 1891, Metropolitan Museum of Art
And the side:
Emile Pingat, mantle, 1891, Metropolitan Museum of Art
And a view of the jacket worn over a dress:
Emile Pingat, mantle, 1891, Metropolitan Museum of Art
What do you think? Fabulous? Or not?
Rate the Dress on a scale of 1 to 10
By the way, have you realised that you can see every Rate the Dress ever, in order?
It does look better worn over that dress, but I don’t like this piece at all. The marabou trim is too shaggy and clashes with the brocade of the fabric, and it’s too short in back and too long in the front. Besides, I’ve never been wild about blue and brown pairings. A 5, and that’s only because it does look much better with the dress.
I want one. Different fabrics, but I love the backwards-tails aspect. And the aqua maribou with the couch cushion fabric totally works. I like the dangling bits of maribou, and the way the width of the trim artfully varies. 7 for fun, but she’s too eccentric for daily wear.
Aqua maribou. I was ok-ish with it untill it fell off the ends of the front at which point it became too much like a muppet-appendage.
Do you suppose it started out in those colours or has it faded/shifted with time?
5/10
I love the fabric and the cut of the mantle. I think the aqua marabou is too busy for the mantle and makes it appear cheap. I’m a firm believer that grey can go with any color but not every color is sensible. If the mantle was mine, I would do a nice dark brown fur that would compliment the grey beautiful brocade. Nevertheless, it’s a lovely garment.
7/10
P.S: How would you sew a mantle like this?
There are some patterns out there – some day I might make one.
The embroidery and colors of the mantle are gorgeous–I love the silvery, lilac shades. But the trim looks like someone scalped Cookie Monster. Not ok–either to scalp Cookie Monster or to trim anything with Muppet fur. I’m also not fond of the extreme shape in the front–it reminds me of my grandma’s old bed jackets. How about a 4? For lovely detail work, but uber-awkward shape and inclusion of Cookie Monster elements.
I love the fabric and the wide sleeves and think it looks geat over the dress. I have a bit of a maribou fetish, but not so keen on the colour it here and the cut at the back almost makes the mannequin look like she’s about to topple forward, so that’ll knock a couple of points off. 7.5/10 for me.
I like it a lot over the dress, also because the colour of the trim does not seem so extreme on that photo… Without the dress it does look rather awkward, also the unbalanced length in front and back – that also looks better with the dress. So I give it a 7 for a possible fabulosity and apparent mis-matched-ness. The “Islamic-inspired” designs, whatever they’re made of, are truly fabulous, though!
I this mantle, it has real impact. I hear what you are saying about the marabou, but I just like it. 9 outa 10.
8. My first instinct was much lower until I saw it over the dress. My main hesitation is the color of the maribou trim. In the mantle-only photos, it really clashes with the other colors. In the dress photo, it is more muted and I really like it, but I have a feeling the true color is closer to the shocking/clashing cookie-monster blue.
If the trim were a different color, the rating would be even higher.
Very happy to see this Pingat mantle, as I’d been searching for this very one – which I’d sketched a long time ago in a notebook. It was pictured in The Opulent Era by Elizabeth Ann Coleman – which I once read. As the book is not immediately available, I was glad you featured this mantle in your post.
Lovely. Your beautiful antique fashion images and sewing will have me returning.