The Prowl · Stitches 1990s Leopard Longline Coat
Polyester · leopard print · disc buttons · princess seaming · longline A-line · charcoal satin lining · Stitches Australian Design · 1990s · AU 12 · buttoned flat L 92cm · Very good
A camel ground printed with black leopard spots, longline, collar-pointed, with black ribbed disc buttons the size of a small coin. It is the 1990s take on the animal print coat: not apologising for itself, but considered in the execution. The princess seaming gives shape without tightness. The A-line swing of the skirt below the waist lets you walk properly. The charcoal satin lining does its job and stays quiet.
The leopard print coat has appeared in every decade since the 1950s, each generation reinventing its own version of the category. The 1990s iteration, typified by sharp construction and clean minimal tailoring, was democratised well beyond the prestige houses into labels like Stitches, which produced Australian-designed pieces for women who wanted the look without the price.
Material
Polyester
Care
dry clean recommended. Cool iron if needed, on the reverse.
More on looking after vintage pieces in our care guide.
Size
Measured flat: length 92cm, bust 55cm, waist 51cm, hip 58cm, the sleeves 62cm long and a trim 17cm wide. Buttoned numbers are honest numbers for a coat; her AU 12 sits comfortably over a jumper.
Our size guide explains how vintage sizing is read here.
Condition
very good. The cloth is in good order, the print untroubled and the spots well-defined. The lining is clean. Buttons intact. Minor crease lines consistent with storage, however the nap of the faux fur is smooth and unruffled.
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.
Leopards do not apologise, and neither does polyester, which has now outlived several of its loudest critics. She patrols the border between coat and rumour, and she holds dual citizenship. Walk her past a bakery, a gallery and an old flame, in any order, and all three will suddenly remember your name. The spots are fixed. Nothing else about her is.