Usually women divide into one of two types: you’re either the one who carefully wraps up the “good” china and stores it safely away to be brought out and enjoyed on only one or two special occasions a year OR you are the one who gleefully enjoys the “good” china each and every day and if a piece accidentally slips from your hand and shatters into a thousand pieces, you feel a moment of sadness, shrug and move on.

This divide also exists among vintage clothing collectors. One type of collector stores her treasures in acid-free tissue in archive boxes and never wears her items. She treats them like works of art. But I know other collectors who, while still caring for their treasures properly, are happy to wear them out on the town and risk the spilled wine and the snags that might result. Of course, this is not for the faint of heart.

But whether you’re the first type, and choose to tuck this this beauty away, or the second type, who chooses to strut its stuff, you are sure to agree that today’s VPOD is a breathtaking work of textile art.

This c. 1900 coat appears to be lace but is actually a combination of embroidered ribbon and braiding on net. Just check out the detailing–it’s breathtakingly beautiful.

What an artful masterpiece for a vintage fashionista!

Available at Vintage Textile.

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