Hi Everyone! I'm hoping I can either find some more info or be directed to a good resource to find more info about this beautiful Elizabeth Arden coat I found. I'm a makeup artist and vintage lover (and velvet obsessed", so when I found this at a Goodwill, I thought it was very cool to find a vintage piece that has deep ties to the cosmetic industry that I'm so passionate about!! When I bought it, the lining on the right side (when on the body) had come undone. I did take it to a trusted vintage shop near me to inquire about getting the lining fixed, because besides a couple small stains in the lining that I'm sure will come out at the cleaners (that I'm now too afraid to take it to) and one small scratch in the velvet, this coat is in the most beautiful condition I've seen for a vintage piece. I did have the lining fixed by the shop's seamstress (I was planning on wearing the coat) and was offered a decent sum of $ by the proprietor. I told her I wanted to keep it, because of the ties to the cosmetic industry, and I LOVE velvet. The seamstress reinforced the label as well but you can still see the original thread (as pictured). I'll include several pictures of the stains/wear/damage and the different kinds of stitching. I'm a little thrown off because some seems to be handsewn and some machine sewn. Any information or leads would be so greatly appreciated!! Thank you!
Pretty coat! I would make a preliminary guess of late 50s into 60s. The elbow length sleeves were meant to be worn with long gloves and beautiful bracelets. It looks like the silhouette has some swing to it? Does the fur collar have the "wedding ring" option with heavy duty hook&eye underneath? According to VFG's label resource, Sarmi was the in-house designer in the 50s, and de la Renta in the early 60s.
Hi Kaila, That is a very pretty coat. I would date your coat to the 60s and the collar is mink. I would not recommend having a dry cleaner attempt to clean the coat or the lining. The staining on the lining is little and expected on coats with fur because furs are not supposed to be cleaned by dry cleaners and because doing so can possibly leave water rings on the lining unless the entire lining is cleaned. Unless you really want to have a go at it I would leave it as is. It's on the inside and people who wear coats like this in my experience don't really care about a little spotting inside. I am very familiar with Elizabeth Arden cosmetics but I don't know much more about her than that. She did have a clothing line and we do have a little bit of information about her in our label resource though that you can see here - https://vintagefashionguild.org/label-resource/arden-elizabeth/
