Date and fur type for this velvet coat?

[Lucybelle]

I'm pretty good at dating things but this coat has got me stumped. The sleeves are quite full and gathered at the cap. The lining has a layer of flannel flat-lined to it for warmth. Blach's was a Birmingham, AL area department store that was in business from the 1885s to the 1970s. I believe this coat dates from 1935 onwards based on the lack of address on the label. It has button loops rather than holes. The coat measures 47" from shoulder to hem, so it is quite long Also, what type of fur is the collar?

 

[Pinkcoke]

The collar looks like calf to me and I would have said 1930s based on the long slim silhouette with puffed sleeves.

 

[Rue_de_la_Paix]

Thank you for sharing your coat with us.

Can you show a close up of the tops of the sleeves? Black is so often hard to see in photos. Also, in the front and back views the coat looks fairly straight or an A line style. But in the side view it almost looks like a swing coat with a flared back and sides? Judging just by the photos, the coat looks early 1950s to me, but I really cannot get a good look at it.

It could be 1930s, but we need to really get a better look at the sleeves.

Is the velvet a heavy or thinner velvet, and can you tell if it is silk, rayon, etc?

Are those the original buttons? Can you show a close up of the buttons?

The fur looks like either Asian goat or a type of lamb (possibly broad tail). Is the collar original to the coat?

 

[anothertimevintageapparel]

The collar looks like caracul (lamb) to me and from the 30s, but the coat looks a little newer.
Was it an addition to the coat at a later date?
I agree that we need to see the sleeves and closures

 

[Lucybelle]

The coat is fairly straight with a 65" hem circumference. Most of the fullness on the sleeves is from the shoulder point to the back and there are gussets added on the under part of the sleeve to the elbow. The sleeve lining is of multi-piece construction. I do believe the collar was added later - it was hand sewn with navy thread - and the neck edge of the coat is unfinished underneath. When buttoned, the coat hangs a bit askew and I believe the buttons have been moved to create a narrower CF lap. I am including pictures of the sleeves and the buttons (which I think are original, but don't know for sure).

 

[furwise]

Hi there, The fur collar looks like Russian Pony to me. Russian pony does look similar to goat and also bears a resemblance to lamb, specifically broadtail lamb which is wavy in appearance.
In regards to dating my best guess would be late 30s to early 40s. The straight cut of the coat actually looks a bit earlier but the puff shoulders, the velvet, and the lining combined is what indicates the later dating to me.

 

[Rue_de_la_Paix]

After seeing the interior and seaming of the sleeves, and a better view of the top of the sleeves, I am thinking it dates to around the mid 1930s. Funny, in the close up photo the velvet looks like a velveteen (cotton velvet), is that the case? It might just be the camera playing tricks with the light. They were ususually made of a medium weight rayon velvet or silk velvet, or a blend of the 2. Yummy stuff, that old velvet.

I wonder if it originally had an ermine collar, as many of those 30s velvet coats did.

 

[furwise]

If it were mid 30s an ermine fur collar combined with the velvet would be very fitting for the time and if it were replaced due to the ermine fur collar being damaged the Russian pony fur which has been lightened could have been done so in an effort to replace the collar with something similar in appearance.

 

[Lucybelle]

Thanks everyone! I'm pretty sure the velvet is a medium weight rayon - that last group of photos were taken in very bad light.