Help ID 1920s Opera Coat, maybe Poiret!?

Delafleur

Delafleur

Registered Guest
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Hello! Last year I acquired probably the most beautiful piece of clothing that I have ever seen. It is a 1920's velvet opera coat with lamé and metal embroidery. When I first opened the garment bag it was in my heart started raising, I think anyone here can imagine the thrill. It belonged to a woman that was the owner of an Antique Shop. She had amazing pieces which makes me believe this coat that was in her personal closet must have been a very special one. I have no info on it because unfortunately when she passed all the info went with her. The coat has no label (it looks as if it was removed at one point) only the edges of it. It is velvet with silk lining, lamé on the collar and metal embroidery all over.

I contacted one of my favorite vintage collectors online (I will keep her info private) and she shared with me that the coat was probably 1923-1924. Made in France more than likely and that the piece had a Moorish-influence feel to it. I have looked for as many references as I could find from the Opera coats of the era and I don't want to jump the gun and make a claim that is not true but Paul Poirets Opera Coats that I have found (Especially the ones at the Met) show a striking resemplance to the embroidery the one I have has. Now, I know to make such a claim is wild! And I am not making it ^_^ That is why I am here. I wanted to see if I could have help from more experienced eyes than mine and from the knowledge users here might bring me to shed some light on this piece. I know that to properly identify it it will take a long time, a lot of research and expertise, but I think this is a good start. So thanks in advance!

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Thinking on this, what it does remind me of is Babani, which was a Paris boutique that started off in 1894 as an importer of exotic goods from 'The East' which in 1894 meant anything from Greece to the Pacific Ocean... They developed their own line of clothes, which were often made up from Eastern embroideries, which this coat resembles. The Babani label was a diamond shaped label, so I still think the remains of your label are probably from a store that imported their line. These are other Babani garments from the period:
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You guys are angels! Thank you so much for your replies! I definitely agree with your observations and am learning so much from this thread already. I did have my reservations because of the red color on the label but didn't know what it could mean. But now thinking it might have been from a store makes sense. Also Fortuny and Gallenga had come to mind but the labels that I found don't match either. Poirets was rectangular but the colors don't seem to match what is left of this one. On the other hand Babani garments that Jonathan shared do have a striking resemblance! I have a feeling it might be more down this line. Also, what do you guys think of the date? I had thought perhaps it could be from the teens? 1910's? Could it be from before? The lady did have victorian caplets and other late 1800's garments. Any thoughts?
 
Jonathan said:
Thinking on this, what it does remind me of is Babani, which was a Paris boutique that started off in 1894 as an importer of exotic goods from 'The East' which in 1894 meant anything from Greece to the Pacific Ocean... They developed their own line of clothes, which were often made up from Eastern embroideries, which this coat resembles. The Babani label was a diamond shaped label, so I still think the remains of your label are probably from a store that imported their line. These are other Babani garments from the period:
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Wow! Thank you so much Jonathan for sharing your time and knowledge! I do believe now I will do a deep dive into Babani, it does have a striking resemblance. What do you think about the time period from the design? Any thoughts?
 
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