Mariano Fortuny Aquamarine Gauze Stencilled Coat. Photo Vintage Luxury

 Silk,glass, metallic pigment. Length: 39". Hem 73". Sleeve Length 29". Price: contact dealer

Transparent Fortuny gauze pieces are based on the ancient tunic which was a shirt like garment that became traditional attire in roman times, the copts or christian egyptians continued to wear it, elaborately decorating it in longitudinal patterned bands which ran up the front and back of the garment.
Fortunys treatment of this shape included cutting it open in the front.For these tunic shaped coats he used fine gauzes or crepes which he printed his patterns on. These tunics can be sleeveless, short sleeved or long sleeved, they are usually trimmed with silk cords and glass beads.

In Guillermo de Osma's book ,Fortuny, Mariano Fortuny : his life and work on page 181 the picture shows Elsie McNeil wearing a version of this wrap in 1927. She was a celebrated New York interior designer who founded Fortuny Inc. in 1927 to import his fabrics and dresses. She rescued the Fortuny textile factory from receivership during the Depression.The hand stenciling is done with real gold metallic pigments aged to a mellow, burnished color. Fortuny built his stenciled pieces layer upon layer, until he achieved the effect of an old brocade.

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