Maybe I’ve shared this with you during the past 13 years, or maybe not. The search function on my blog is coming up empty, so I may not have shared it. Well, good. I am so dang proud of this jacket! Never mind that the shoulder pads are too high for my current taste, even though high shoulders have made their way back into women’s fashions. So let’s try again.
Pattern: Vogue Pattern 1540 —it’s from back in the day when they licensed with big designers, in this case French designer Claude Montana. I cannot find this pattern in my archival stash — I hope it was not given away or thrown out. Yikes. I still need to make the vest and the culottes that accompany the jacket!! The pattern is available on Etsy; I’m posting the link to the shop. The name of the shop is “Loves To Sew Vintage”.
Fabric: If memory serves me right, it is a wool, bamboo and linen blend. I have worn this jacket since it was made in the late 90s (??) enough times that it had to be dry cleaned once; not much after that. The fabric has begun to pill a little bit at the shoulders — could be from bag-strap abrasion. It has also begun to slightly pill in other places. Just from hanging in my closet? I believe bamboo pills.
Design lines: Notwithstanding the high shoulders, it is very nicely shaped and skims the wearer – me – awesomely. There’s a center back seam, princess lines on front and back — opportunities for adjusting the fit to one’s liking! Note that the front princess seam ending at the welt pocket denotes excellent design. The jacket is open at the front, without any closure with the front edge slanting downwards to a pointy end — it just hangs down prettily from the lapel. The sleeves bell out just enough and split at the seam 7.5 inches from mid-arm to the hem. These are the obvious design lines; But wait….
Behind the prettiness: or, behind the seams, as they say, lies detail you may be interested to know. The sleeve is one piece but it looks like a two piece when you’re not really paying attention. See the sleeve seam that begins at the hem slit and ends at the princess line of the jacket armhole? That’s what makes it look like it’s a two piece sleeve; to create that one-seam-that-pretends-to-be-two-seam look, the sleeve cap is shaped differently. The sleeve cap edge begins with the back princess line armhole, curves down into the underarm, through the front and goes back up again over the shoulder cap, and down again to end where it began. Why did Mr. Montana design it this way — just to be different? No. Notice on the image below that the sleeve hem’s slit is located at the same vertical line as the elbow, which aligns with the back armhole’s princess line. Oh dear, this is getting curiouser and curiouser. But I think you know what I mean.
Small details: my favorite details are those which are not only beautiful, but serve a functional purpose. Notice the arrowheads embroidered on the sleeve slit and also on both ends of the welt pocket! When Monsieur Montana added them to the design, I take it as a functional detail so that those areas do not tear apart with time and wear! They’re not small — the arrowheads are large and obvious, and they replace bartacks which would have served the same purpose.
Note the arrowhead as well as the princess seam that ends at the welt pocket. I had a great time making all this detail.
Inside: Just so you get a look at the lining, it is Bemberg rayon. Note that the lining ends on the sleeve where the sleeve slit begins. Also, note the slack in the lining at the hem, the center back and at the sleeve cap, which is standard issue in jacket linings. Do you know why? Is that another blog post?
I’ll trust my faulty memory and say that I used fusible interfacing on the lapels and fronts.
Anyhow, hope you enjoyed a revisit with this jacket. One day, when my photographer is available, I shall wear it so that it look a bit more 2026 rather than 1990s.
Until the next post….
Samina
