Ringleader · Merivale Hemmes 1980s Black Satin-Lapel Swallowtail Jacket
Black cotton twill with satin lapel facing · double-breasted swallowtail cut · six covered buttons · Merivale Hemmes, Australia · 1980s · 56cm front length, 52cm back · tagged a vintage 10
The lapel does something the rest of her does not: it catches light. Satin laid flat against matte black cotton twill, peaked high near the shoulder, so the eye goes there first before it finds the row of covered buttons marching down to where the front splits into two long points.
Whoever cut this jacket built her the way a proper tailcoat gets built: princess seams to shape the waist without a dart in sight, a back that splits into its own pair of points below the closure, sleeves set high enough into the shoulder that the whole thing holds its posture without help from the body inside it. The label reads Merivale Hemmes, carrying the family name straight through: John and Merivale Hemmes opened the House of Merivale in Sydney in the 1960s and dressed a generation before the family name moved on to restaurants and hotels. This one was made sometime in the 1980s, in the label's later years, when a woman in a swallowtail dinner jacket was making exactly the kind of statement a jacket like this was built for.
Six black covered buttons close double-breasted across the front, though she is clearly built to be worn open as much as closed, the deep 35cm drop at the collar leaving plenty of room for that choice. The back falls into two pointed tails below the waist, tailcoat construction rather than a decorative hem, and the sleeves finish with a single covered button at the cuff. She is unlined, which keeps her light for a piece with this much structure, with a dry clean only tag the one instruction stitched inside.
Material
Black cotton twill, satin lapel facing, covered buttons, unlined
Care
Dry clean, or a gentle, cool wash inside a padded bag if you prefer, taking care around the satin covered buttons. Store on a structured hanger to keep the shoulders and lapel from losing their line.
More on looking after vintage pieces in our care guide.
Size
Measured flat: Measured flat, she runs 56cm along the front and 52cm at centre back, with a 46cm bust when the top button is closed and a 44cm waist. Sleeves run 55cm with a 17cm width through the bicep, and the front opens in a deep 35cm drop from the collar, cut to be worn open as easily as closed. Tagged a vintage 10, but given how close and tailored the cut runs, she actually suits a modern AU XS to S.
Our size guide explains how vintage sizing is read here.
Condition
Excellent. No pulls, marks or fading anywhere on the black twill or the satin lapel facing, and every covered button sits secure. The tailoring holds its shape with no looseness at the seams. Exhibition condition for a piece with this much structure.
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.
She was built for a room that needed managing, the kind of jacket that decides who gets to be looked at and when. Wear her buttoned and she runs a tight ship. Wear her open and she is already announcing the next act before it arrives. The tails do the same job a ringmaster's coat has always done, giving the smallest movement somewhere to go. She does not ask for the room's attention. She simply assumes it.