2-833-131 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Lavender wool tweed swing coat designed by Arthur McGee. The fabric has multi-colored wool woven flecks. The coat has a spread collar, full-length flared sleeves, and falls just below the knee. It closes at the center front neck with one (1) snap and one (1) large round metal decorative brooch-like button with a purple rhinestone at the center. The rest of the front center opening does not fasten. There is one (1) horizontal pocket sewn at the proper left front waist. Pleats are sewn at each underarm to create additional flare at the sides. The back is made extra full with a deep box pleat sewn at the center back just below the shoulders. The coat is fully lined in green silk satin. The body has an additional lining between the facing and the satin made from green wool. The linings of the body are not seamed to the interior bottom hem, but are instead left loose with a turned hem finish. The wool lining is slightly shorter than the satin lining. There are no labels. In 1957, Arthur Lee McGee (1933-2019) was the first African American designer hired to run a design studio on Seventh Avenue in the Garment District in New York City.