Blue Hour · 1960s Handmade Iridescent Jacquard Swing Coat
Iridescent midnight blue and dark blue satin-weave jacquard · tone-on-tone botanical pattern · draped mandarin collar · satin knotted rosette buttons · 3/4 sleeves with cuff vent · A-line swing · navy satin lining · interior pocket · handmade · 1960s · L 97cm flat · fits AU 10–16 · Very good
The fabric shifts between midnight blue and deep black depending on where the light arrives. The pattern beneath it is botanical, a large-scale tone-on-tone jacquard of rose leaves and stems woven directly into the satin weave, visible only when the surface moves or the angle changes. The collar is a mandarin form that drapes loosely rather than standing, settling into a soft fold at the throat. Three satin knotted rosette buttons on the centre front. Three-quarter sleeves with a vent slit at the cuff. The silhouette is an A-line swing, knee-length, the shape clean and wide. The lining is deep navy satin.
The swing coat was the defining outerwear silhouette of the mid-1960s, a reaction against the structured fitted coats of the previous decade and a precursor to the geometric shapes that would follow. A handmade version of this form required considerable skill: the swing seams carry tension at the hem that must be handled at the construction stage or the coat will pull. This piece is well made.
Material
Iridescent satin-weave jacquard (likely acetate or silk-acetate blend)
Care
dry clean only. Store hung. The satin face responds well to pressing through a cloth.
More on looking after vintage pieces in our care guide.
Size
Measured flat: length 97cm, bust 55cm, waist 63cm, hip 66cm, the swing widening as she falls. Sleeves 56cm from shoulder point to cuff and 21cm wide. A swing coat fits by the shoulders and swings free of everything else: she will sit happily over an AU 10 through 16.
Our size guide explains how vintage sizing is read here.
Condition
very good. The satin face is clean and holds its sheen. The lining is sound. The rosette buttons are intact. The finish is untroubled. The lining shows a ghost press at the hem from folding. The armhole vents are a little stressed but have aged well.
Our condition lexicon explains the grades we use.
Before it reaches you
Someone loved this before you did, and I try to honour that properly. Each piece is hand washed, or cleaned in the way that the fabric permits, then steamed until it softens and straightens and feels newly attended to. Wherever a button was missing, it has been replaced with a vintage one from my long-kept collection. Wherever a hem had given way, I fix it by hand. By the time it leaves this room it is genuinely clean, pressed, whole, and looked over one final time before I let myself believe it is ready. Not restored. Not made new. Just returned to a state where it can be loved again, by someone who was not there the first time.
The roses in the weave bloom only at certain angles, and the coat decides the angles, never you. Between midnight blue and black there is a border crossing, unstaffed, open all night, and this is what she wears to it. Handmade swing seams hold their tension like a held breath at the top of a staircase. Swing once, and the whole evening quietly reconsiders itself in your favour. You will wear her exactly once, and then again, and again.