help with dating this fabulous silk cape/coat

It was great to see up close. This garment does have some differences though and it sounds as though the best place to have it examined would be by the FIT since they were looking specifically at authentic, reproduction and faked Paul Poiret garments for their exhibition, they will likely know, having seen or handled the 3 authenticated garments, whether it is from the original period or not, which is the primary concern.

It does strike me that the catelogue page for the coat (titled Caleche? or Galeche I think) specifies the three colours it was to be available in match the three now held in US museums, and being a collection that was not put into production, I can't see them having made more than one sample of each. It WOULD be interesting to know if all 3 were labelled the same as the FIT's example...

 

The only differences that we could tell is that ours does not have the fringe on the shoulders nor a label. Everything else if pretty spot on.
The one at FIT is a genuine Poiret design that was licensed specifically to be reproduced and sold in the United States. To my understanding, Poiret did this only for a very short period of time, like months. So this would not have been mass produced by any measure. I believe they only knew of 3 or 4 of this particular design in existence. This is what FIT says "It served as a sample for a ready-to-wear line that the designer wanted to create especially for the American market. Poiret conceived the line as a safeguard against unauthorized copying. However, it never went into production, and this coat is therefore one of only three that exist."
The FIT museum curator has contacted us and we can't wait to hear what her response is. We are so excited!

 

Unfortunately I can't watch the film as it requires an unknown plug-in that I don't have installed but I agree that the design of the coat is the same.

This is an example of a garment that needs to be handled, and is why many of us refuse to authenticate without seeing something in person. On my monitor, the fabric and trims look too modern, and there are subtle differences between your coat and the Poiret. I am unable to say whether it is the same coat or a copy of the coat, all I can say is that the design is the same coat.

Very exciting if it is the same coat and you have a Poiret! I'm glad to see it being displayed as it should be too. It's a beautiful coat.

 

The buttons are also different, yours appears to have thread covered beads, instead of the woven silk covered buttons shown in the film.

 

Thanks to everyone for all their help! I agree Nicole, that it is so hard to determine some things from pictures...they just don't do it justice sometimes!
I very much appreciate this forum and all your infinite knowledge.
I will keep everyone abreast of the situation....I am going to be calling FIT Museum this afternoon! Eep!

 

Melanie....you are so wonderful and this film is, too! What an interesting restoration......recovering all 59 buttons! Just that is daunting and tedious in itself.

 

Bonnie the video is the FIT museum, that's not me much as I envy her job.

 

Update?

 

Hello everyone!

Thank you so much for all of your information and help on dating this cape!
We had a few museums contact us, so we did a little further investigating on this as a Paul Poiret.
We talked to curator at FIT museum, they identified it as a true Paul Poiret cape.
We were then sent a PDF with the original catalog attached with our cape in there, in three different color ways.

There was a couple museums in California who were interested in this item for display, but we decided to contact Augusta Auctions in NYC and on November 15th this item will be displayed and up for auction as a Paul Poiret in Augusta Auctions!

Again thank you all so much for your help!

 

Oh, Melanie....I knew it wasn't you, but it was neat that you found and posted this video from FIT!

 

WOW, congrats!