LACMA

ShopMembershipMyLACMATickets
LACMA
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
5905 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
info@lacma.org
(323) 857-6000
Sign up to receive emails
Subscribe
© Museum Associates 2026
  • About LACMA
  • Jobs
  • Building LACMA
  • Host An Event
  • Unframed
  • Press
  • FAQs
  • Log in to MyLACMA
  • Privacy Policy
© Museum Associates 2026
Collections

Man's Suit (Coat, Waistcoat, and Breeches)1790-1805

Not on view
Eighteenth-century men's embroidered silk waistcoat, displayed open and flat, with black woven ground and dense floral embroidery in white, pink, gold, and green along front edges and pocket flaps
Three-quarter-length men's court coat on a white mannequin, dark olive woven ground with dense floral embroidery in yellow, white, and coral along the front edges, cuffs, and skirt vents; white lace cravat and cuffs visible at collar and sleeve.
18th-century men's coat displayed on a mannequin, rear view. Dark brown woven fabric on the upper body transitions to elaborately embroidered skirt panels featuring green foliage, pineapples, and white thistle-like blooms in silk threadwork. Embroidered trim also borders the cuffs and pocket flaps.
Museum display of an 18th-century men's court suit on a white mannequin: dark velvet coat and knee breeches with allover woven pattern, densely embroidered front edges and cuffs with multicolored floral and botanical motifs in green, yellow, pink, and white.
Close-up of embroidered textile with dark ground, featuring white dandelion-like floral medallions below a garland of feathers, pinecones, and small blue flowers in green, rust, and cream silk threads.
Detail of an embroidered textile panel with a black woven ground, densely worked with polychrome silk embroidery depicting trailing oak leaves, pine cones, small blue flowers, and white thistle-like blooms, with a rectangular cartouche outlined in white stitching at upper center.
Silk embroidery on dark ground, featuring densely worked botanical motifs including white thistle-like blooms with radiating stitches, small blue flowers on green stems, feathery fronds, and layered leaves in gold, green, and rust tones.
Silk embroidery detail on dark ground, featuring a large circular thistle-like bloom in white at top center, with blue wildflowers, yellow-green leaves, a rust-colored carnation, and delicate white feathery sprays, worked in dense satin and padded stitches.
Close-up detail of silk embroidery on dark ground, showing a bird's wing and body rendered in cream, peach, and rust-brown satin and couched stitches with scalloped feather patterns, surrounded by yellow-green leaves and small blue flowers.
Close-up of textile embroidery featuring a large circular floral motif in cream and white thread on a dark ground, with radiating straight stitches and raised satin-stitched circular forms arranged in concentric rings.
Title
Man's Suit (Coat, Waistcoat, and Breeches)
Place Made
Europe
Date Made
1790-1805
Medium
Silk cut and voided velvet on plain weave foundation with supplementary weft float patterning and silk embroidery
Dimensions
Center back length (Coat): 45 3/4 in. (116.21 cm) Center back length (Waistcoat): 24 3/4 in. (62.87 cm) Length (Breeches): 27 in.
Credit Line
Purchased with funds provided by Mr. and Mrs. John Jewett Garland
Accession Number
M.63.51a-c
Classification
Costumes
Collecting Area
Costume and Textiles
Selected Bibliography
  • Maeder, Edward et al.. An Elegant Art: Fashion & Fantasy in the Eighteenth Century. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1983.
  • Velvets East and West: From the 14th to the 20th Century. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1966.
  • Takeda, Sharon Sadako and Kaye Durland Spilker. Fashioning Fashion: Deux Siècles de Mode Européenne, 1700-1915. Paris: Arts Décoratifs; Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Munich; New York: Delmonico Books-Prestel, 2013.
  • Takeda, Sharon Sadako and Kaye Durland Spilker. Fashioning Fashion: European Dress in Detail, 1700-1915. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Munich; New York: Delmonico Books/Prestel, 2010.
  • Takeda, Sharon Sadako and Kaye Durland Spilker. Fashioning Fashion: Europäische Moden, 1700-1915. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Munich; New York: Prestel, 2012.
  • Örmen, Catherine. L'Art de la Mode. Paris: Citadelles & Mazenod, 2015.
  • Edwards, Lydia. How to Read a Suit: A Guide to Changing Men's Fashion from the 17th to the 20th Century. London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2020.

Related Unframed

Related Unframed

A Mouse Ate My Coat!—Conservation of an 18th Century Boy's Coat
A Mouse Ate My Coat!—Conservation of an 18th Century Boy's Coat
  • October 26, 2020
  • Catherine McLean