THE THIN WALL OF AIR

In view 1, the original seams are visi- ble. In view 3, the “wall of air” between the muslin and the dress form is shown. It has been padded out with fiberfill, fully expanding the tortoise-shaped back of the coat. The marked grain lines on the muslin help to understand the deviation of the seams. The front of the coat is molded close to the body at the Empire line.

First created in 1959 and produced until 1961, this coat was made in a variety of fabrics, including an elegant emerald wool bouclé, a sophisticated black wool melton, and an eccentric red-and-black bold wool plaid. The hem was pinned up on the spot to make the coat look more contemporary.

The complex cut of the famous Great Coat is a significant example and makes Charles James’ artistic approach of draping comprehensible. Working on this surface, he was able to extract an infinite variety of patterns from this basic shape by dissecting it in multiple ways. He used wide black tape or seam binding to create alternate seaming for new variations of the stuffed garment, all the while retaining the original shape.

James once said of his five decades of work: “If I were known for only two things, it would be the celebrated dis- placement of the dart and the wall of air between the body and the fabric. All of my seams have meaning — they emphasize something about the body.” These two aspects refer to Japonism in the mid-19th century, when Japanese society collided with the Western world. The kimono constitutes the epitome of all Japanese fashion from a Western perspective.