Mantle in Silk Velvet

From the 1870s and 1880s, fashion magazines presented numerous coats and jackets under almost as many names, varying from mantelet, pellerine and cape to sortie. Two coats in the Jacoba de Jonge collection were initially purchased by two Dutch women in the famous Au Bon Marché department store in Paris. The women were returning to the Netherlands from the Dutch East Indies. After disembarking in Marseille, they continued their journey by train, stopping in Paris, and they undoubtedly suffered from the colder climate. The mother purchased a long, tailored velvet coat (listed as 'Mantle with Matching Fur Muff' on this platform), while the daughter bought a short, fashionable jacket. She was photographed in a winter setting, for which she had added a fur collar and cuffs to the jacket, with her hands tucked into a large muff. Customers were able to purchase such ready-to-wear, luxury coats from both the department stores and the major couturiers, without having to have them altered or making other time-consuming arrangements.