Elise’s gift: the mannish cape
Last week, out of Elise’s gifts, I showed you an exceedingly quirky and romantic and feminine leaf-green velvet evening wrap – a perfect illustration of the mid-late 1930s Medieval Revival. This week I’m sticking with velvet evening wraps, but going to the other extreme, to illustrate another fashion trend of the late 1930s – the masculine look for women. Thus an almost severe and mannish evening cape: You’ve already had a sneak-peek at this rather masculine monochrome evening cape: I wore it to the premier of Porcelaintoy’s Monsters. I’m afraid the cape hasn’t photographed very well – the contrast of the black velvet and the white satin lining was just too tricky to balance. I’ll try my best to tell you about it in great detail to fill in the gaps. Like most of the textiles Elise gave me, this cape dates from the late 1930s, as shown by the materials used and the broad shoulders. The cape outer is black velvet – almost certainly rayon. It’s fully lined in quilted rayon sateen. The lining …