Evening coat

The expansive length of this silver lamé evening jacket serves as a canvas of sorts, opulently showcasing the imaginative artistry of the embroiderer with a profusion of beaded motifs including coiled snakes, lotus flowers, winged scarabs, falcons, and men dressed in shenti. Although ancient Egypt had long been influential on fashion, the discovery of Pharaoh Tutankhamun’s tomb by the British archaeologist and Egyptologist Howard Carter in 1922 prompted a widespread vogue for Egyptomania that reached unprecedented heights the following year. This trend found expression in textiles, cosmetic products, jewelry and accessories, architecture and home furnishings, and costume for dance, theater, film, and—especially—fancy dress. Many garments assumed characteristics of the “Egyptian line,” a category of slim, tighthipped dresses that often featured jeweled girdles, low waistlines, center drapery, and hanging panels of fabric that were sometimes pleated. While actresses like Theda Bara (Cleopatra, 1917) and Carmel Myers (Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ, 1925) served as muses to keep the allure and seduction of ancient Egypt alive through film, the expressive and intricately embellished fashions of the 1920s became a particularly apt outlet to conjure its exotic romance for the average woman.