Confusing coat! 1950s? Zelinka Matlick?

[BeeswaxVintage]

Found this coat but I'm not too sure who made it. It has 3 tags. Did one of the names on those tags make it or none? Confused! I'm also not confident on dating it.

Please help!

Ok so this tag is at the top:

This tag is on the inside on the right:

And then there's this one:

Sorry if my pictures don't look great. My house is way too dark when it's not daytime.

 

[MyVintageCocktail]

Well, without doing any research and not offhand knowing anything about the two larger labels (although the second one sounds familiar), I would guess that the first label is from a boutique or ladies' specialty retail shop in Baltimore, and Zelinka Matlick is the maker. Nicer coats generally had the store label sewn into them once they got there. Your last label is just the Union label, meaning it was made in the U.S. in a union shop.

I can't quite tell by your photos what's going on with the cuffs on the sleeves, but he fur trim should probably be turned up over the sleeve ends. You shouldn't be seeing those.

 

[pastperfect2]

Anne got here first! It is indeed a Zelinka*Matlick coat made in a union shop and sold at Jeannette Beck. That's the earlier ILGWU label - I think 1955 - 1963. And there is a Zelinka bio on the Label Resource: http://vintagefashionguild.org/label-resource/zelinka-matlick/

Hollis

 

[BeeswaxVintage]

Very helpful, Anne. Thank you. I actually just looked in the Label Resource and found this label in there with the description that it was from a 1950s coat. So there's that.

Agreed about the sleeves. When I saw them they looked odd but I tried to roll them up and there's no fur on the under side - it's just lining. And the end of the blue part of the sleeve flaps up a little to show some fabric allowance for the fur trim to start. So it appears that's how it's supposed to be.

 

[BeeswaxVintage]

Thanks for the confirmation Hollis! Do you think it's more 1950s or 1960s for the coat?

I want to sell it but have a small issue. One of the buttons is broken (the button is made of little balls and the big one in the middle has fallen off of one of them). Should I sell it like that? I'm guessing putting new buttons on it would be a no-no.

 

[MyVintageCocktail]

Oh, well, then, the fur trim should definitely NOT be turned up, but that is a somewhat different construction than I've seen in coats of this era. Very cute coat, though!

 

[pastperfect2]

If I had two interesting buttons of the 50s and 60s that were the perfect size, I might replace them, but include the originals. But you could certainly sell this with the buttons as is. If the buyer wants to replace them, that's an easy enough thing for them to do.