What could I wear over a Fortuny style dress for a wedding?

[Itsnouse]

I have a Fortuny style dress made by Patricia Lester. It’s sleeveless so I really want something to wear over it.
it’s identical to one one worn by Helena Bonham Carter in Wings of the Dove. It’s made of finely pleated silk. I’d like to wear it to a wedding event and as is the modern trend this seems to involve wearing black tie during the day. It will be too chilly on its own. I think perhaps I’m after some sort of vintage opera coat, but I’m hoping for some ideas.

When is the wedding, OP?

Helena is wearing a rather lovely embroidered shawl so I think I would look for something similar in a vintage shop or online. Either that or a fur tippet, just because I am not sure what it is but it sounds appropriate. Though obviously the fur part is a huge problem!

March. But there are other events where I could have worn it if I had something a little warmer to put over it.

Hello @Itsnouse - beautiful dress!! I've always been obsessed with the Delphos dresses by Fortuny, which these were based on - & now it seems these are classified as vintage too!

I also love the book & film version of The Wings of the Dove - I've seen it several times.

Do you have some photos of your dress? Is it this colourway (but longer & sleeveless)? What height & size are you, what's your colouring, & where does it come to length-wise on you?

Coincidentally, I'd just been reading an Instagram post about Tina Chow, who owned quite a few original Fortuny pieces. Her personal style was wonderful.

I love vintage opera coats, & have a few - but I never wear them with other vintage clothes. I wear them with simple stuff like T-shirts & jeans (well- & fashionably-cut), so that the vintage piece is shown off to best advantage. Also, as @Floisme said on the previous thread that influenced your post), I don't want to look as if I'm in costume for Goodwood or another full-on retro event.

I like to integrate vintage clothes & accessories with the modern clothes that form the bulk of my wardrobe - that way my outfits hopefully look contemporary. So I would possibly think "What would Tina Chow wear"?!!! And I think that the answer might be armloads of cuffs/bangles, & a simple plain cashmere knit cardigan-jacket or similar?

Shawls & tippets, though again very beautiful, might also make you look a bit like an extra in a BBC period drama ...

I don't remember the film (although I'm sure I've seen it) and all the photos Google has thrown up are impossibly dark. So working slightly in the dark (if you'll pardon the pun) and assuming an authentic Edwardian cover up is unlikely and, as Eleanor says, in danger of getting too fancy dress, I might start by looking for a cropped, 1950s/early 1960s, A-line jacket in something like velvet or brocade. I quite enjoy mixing up the decades and these are a lovely shape but, because they're short, they wouldn't / shouldn't dominate the dress. They also look relatively contemporary so there'd be less danger of looking like a film extra and it would also be wearable separately.

As an example, there's one on Etsy at the moment by Jean Allen which is black so may not be wedding friendly and may also not be your size but it'll still give you an idea of the kind of shape I mean. I'll see if it's still there although it might be tomorrow before I can look. Or if you search on Etsy for 'Jean Allen jacket' you can probably find it before then.

The dress sounds gorgeous by the way so yes, please post a pic so we can all drool.

When I was perusing the background to the still from the film, in which Helena is wearing the Fortuny dress, I saw that costume design was by Charles and Patricia Lester.

There is a website which may provide some inspiration.

charlespatricialester.com/product-category/jackets-wraps-cardigans-and-coats/

Or a 1950s beaded cardigan. I'm looking for one at the moment. (Like I said on the other thread, I'd make a terrible stylist as I'd just suggest things I want for myself) and the good ones are lined and as structured as a jacket. One snag is that they tend to be on the long side and so a cropped Y2K version might work better with the dress - and be easier to source in good condition. Or as Eleanor says, a plain, unembellished cashmere cardigan would just let the dress do all the talking.

https://frontiers-woman.com/products/luanne-jacquard-black?srsltid=AfmBOopHnczdFI-EQ9zFFqaxBN7eXpp8mzZC5I1jRCdXK-jzAQNL7hzA

This perhaps?

Yes it’s the same colour but full length. This is a photo I’ve just taken. It’s not really darker at the bottom it’s just the photo

One Hundred Stars do kimono jackets, wraps and velvet duster coats. Worth looking there? Something like this ?onehundredstars.co.uk/products/ginger-jar-grey-velvet-grande-kimono?_pos=1&_psq=velvet+grande&_psid=e45fe76a3&_ss=e

i loved the film too. Haven’t seen it for years but loved the costumes I’ve been to the Fortuny museum in Venice too which was beautiful. Glorious dark layered interiors as well as the Delphos dresses and others.
Thank you for steering me away from the full vintage costume look. That’s not really what I want.

Is this sort of thing that you had in mind? I need ideas for colours. I have a black one which looked better and I would wear it on another occasion but dress code is no black for the wedding.

5’5”, size 10 and pale fairly neutral colouring with dark blonde hair. @EleanorMc67

How fabulous! @EleanorMc67has great suggestions. Here are a few more ….

I was thinking something shorter, to show off the dress as much as possible, with a bit of embellishment but not so much that it would compete with or distract from the dress, and also with a round rather than a V neckline - although that’s more a personal preference. A lot of the 1950s ones that are still around are also lined which I like because it gives them a bit more shape but that’s not essential.

edited for missing word

Thank you @Defiantly41 and @Stalygirl those are the kind of pieces I had in mind when I started this thread. I’ll have a look at those.
@PhaedraTwo another good suggestion but I think it might be too much black for this specific event.

It's beautiful! Such gorgeous fabric.

So would you say the colour is a warm burgundy? As I wasn't sure from the first photo if it was veering more towards burgundy or rust?

Do you prefer/suit gold or silver with your colouring? You might suit both?

I also think no buttons would be best. The cream one is a perfectly nice cardigan but too daytime IMO.

If black’s out then that 1950s Jean Allen jacket I’d seen would also be unsuitable. I’ll see if I can find something similar tomorrow.

This is why I rarely post on wedding threads, because I always wander round EBay/Etsy/Vinted, picking out all the things I might choose if I were going myself and then realise I don’t even know what colours the op wants, let alone size

It’s warm burgundy- heading towards rust. I tend to wear silver but the only time I’ve worn it I did go for gold.

I had a look at the jacket and it’s lovely but perhaps not what I would prefer colour wise for this event. Did get me reminiscing about some vintage silk velvet pieces I used to have when at Uni. All sadly long gone, but they felt gorgeous.
Then I did get distracted looking at 70s folk inspired dresses. I hadn’t realised that Etsy had vintage dealers on there.

Yeah it’s the wrong colour - sorry. Unfortunately a lot of the jackets in that style that are still around are either black velvet or in wool fabrics which are equally lovely but not really weddingy. But sometimes they were originally part of a ‘going away outfit’ and they’re the kind that might be more suitable. It’s just finding one!

That said, I’ve got a similar jacket to the Jean Allen Etsy one in green velvet - the wrong shade for your dress but it proves alternatives to black do still exist!