The Light Jacquard Coat, in Teal and Silver Floral
The Light Jacquard Coat, in Teal and Silver Floral
A light jacquard coat is the coat for the woman who does not take her coat off first. It weighs almost nothing, it closes without a visible button, and the pattern is woven into the cloth at the loom with metallic thread, so under theater or restaurant light it is part of the evening rather than its cover. The Emma light coat from Luna Fashion House comes in two versions on a black base: a teal floral and a silver floral. This is the story of the evenings each one was made for.
She is 44, and the invitations have changed. A gallery opening on a Thursday in October, a dinner where she is the host, the opera in November with her sister. The wool coat is too heavy for 58 degrees and too serious for the room. The trench reads as 8 a.m. The wrap she owns is a shawl and behaves like one. She has been searching for a dressy light coat, a coat to wear over a cocktail dress, a jacquard coat for women that does not look like upholstery. What she wants is the coat she can keep on for the first ten minutes and be glad she did.
Shop the pieces in this story: Winter Coats and Light Coats. Complete size runs are listed first.
What a jacquard light coat is, and why it is not a print
A jacquard pattern is built at the loom. The floral is not printed onto the cloth afterward; it is woven into it, thread by thread, and on the Emma the metallic threads are woven in the same way rather than applied to the surface. That is why the shimmer is soft rather than glittery, why it catches light from the side more than from the front, and why it does not flake or fade the way a surface finish does. The cloth is 90 percent polyester and 10 percent metalized fiber, light enough to carry like a second layer rather than a coat.
The cut is deliberately plain so the cloth can do the work: a shirt collar, a front that closes with hidden press buttons so the line is unbroken, a self-tie belt at the natural waist, and a tailored fit-and-flare shape that ends at the knee. Every Emma is cut and sewn in our atelier in Pozarevac, Serbia, where we have made coats since 1990, in small runs of a few of each size, with no reorders mid-season. If you have read our piece on why the light coat is the most-worn piece in a wardrobe, this is that coat, dressed for evening.
The teal, for the evening that starts at the door
It is 6:30 on a Thursday and the gallery is already loud. She is wearing the Jody lace cocktail dress in black, which she has worn to three things this year and which nobody has noticed twice, and over it the Emma light coat in teal floral jacquard. The room notices the coat. Deep teal flowers on black, woven so the color seems to come up from inside the cloth, and a belt she ties once, loosely, and does not touch again.
She keeps it on through the first glass of wine because it is warm enough and because it is, tonight, the outfit. When she sits, it opens over the lace. When she leaves, it closes in one movement with no buttons to find. On the walk to the car, the metallic thread picks up the streetlight and the coat looks, briefly, like something moving on water. Teal is the color for the woman whose evening wardrobe is black and navy and who wants one color that belongs to her, and it is the color that photographs best against dark hair and warm skin under warm light.
The dress under it, the one she has stopped thinking about, is the reason the coat can be the point. The Jody is a fitted lace dress that finishes at the knee, with short lace sleeves and a smooth skirt, and it disappears under the teal exactly as it should.
The silver, for the woman who is asked what she is wearing
The Emma light coat in silver floral jacquard is the same coat with a different temperature. Silver-white flowers on black, the same weave, the same belt, and a different set of women reach for it. It is the color that works with both gold and silver jewelry, with pearls, and, more than any other coat we make, with gray and silver hair. If you have wondered what colors work with gray and silver hair, this coat is one answer you can wear.
Her moment is a November wedding, 4 p.m., where she is the mother of the groom and the ceremony is indoors but the photographs are not. Under the coat is the Lucy jacquard midi dress in midnight blue, and the two jacquards, navy on navy and silver on black, read as one considered decision rather than a dress and a coat. She ties the belt at the back for the ceremony so the front hangs clean, and in the photograph on the steps the silver catches the last of the light. Someone asks her what she is wearing. She has been asked that before, but not for a coat.
When the jacquard should be daytime instead
Some women fall for the woven texture and then realize they want it for the 8 a.m. walk to the office, not the 8 p.m. arrival. For her, the answer is not an Emma. It is the Rea jacquard trench coat in beige: the same idea, a pattern woven at the loom, in a cream wool-viscose cloth with storm flaps, snap buttons, and a tie belt, cut to the knee for the commute and the school run. The Emma is the evening jacquard. The Rea is the daylight one. Choose by the hour you will wear it most.
Teal or silver, which size, and what it costs
One coat, one wardrobe. If your evening dresses are black, navy, and charcoal and you wear gold, choose the teal. If your palette is mixed, your jewelry is silver or pearl, or your hair is gray, choose the silver. Do not choose by which one is prettier on the screen; choose by the dresses already in your closet, because the coat will be worn over them.
The Emma is cut in sizes 2 to 10 and most women take their usual size. Size up only if you want to wear it over a heavier piece. It is cut for days between roughly 50 and 65 degrees, which is to say the evenings of September to November and March to May, and it is not a winter coat: for January, choose wool from the winter coats collection. It ships from California in two to five days, return shipping is free within the US, and you have 30 days, no questions asked. A fit note is on each product page.
The Emma is $880. That buys a mill-woven metallic jacquard, one of the slowest cloths to produce because the loom is set for the pattern and the thread, a hidden closure that takes longer to sew than a row of buttons, and a coat made in one atelier for more than 35 years. Worn to the 12 or 15 evenings a year that matter, for the years it will last, it costs less per evening than the coat check. Dry clean only, once a season. Iron or steam on low only. Hang it on a wide padded hanger and keep it in a cedar bag through the summer.
Frequently asked questions
What is a jacquard coat?
A jacquard coat is made from cloth whose pattern is woven at the loom rather than printed on the surface. On the Emma light coat from Luna Fashion House, the floral and the metallic thread are both woven in, so the pattern has depth from the side, shimmers softly under evening light, and does not flake or fade with wear.
Is a light coat warm enough for a fall evening?
For evenings between about 50 and 65 degrees, yes. The Emma is a lined, knee-length coat that closes to the collar, and it is built for the walk from car to door and the first cool hour of a reception. Below about 45 degrees, or for a long outdoor wait, choose a wool coat from the Luna winter coats collection instead.
Can I wear the Emma over a cocktail dress?
Yes, that is what it is for. The fit-and-flare cut ends at the knee, so a knee-length or midi cocktail dress sits cleanly under it, and the hidden closure means nothing catches on lace or beading. The Jody lace cocktail dress in black and the Lucy jacquard midi dress in midnight blue are the two dresses it is photographed over most.
Teal or silver: which Emma should I choose?
Teal if your evening dresses are black and navy and you want one color that reads as yours; it photographs best against dark hair and warm light. Silver if your palette is mixed, you wear pearls or silver, or your hair is gray or silver. Choose by the dresses you already own, because the coat will be worn over them.
How do I care for a metallic jacquard coat?
Dry clean only, once at the end of the season. Iron or steam on low only, never hot, and do not bleach. The metallic threads are woven in rather than applied, so they do not flake with normal wear. Store on a wide padded hanger, in a cedar bag through the summer.
If you already know which evening this coat is for, choose the color that matches the dresses in your closet, take your usual size, and let the coat stay on for the first ten minutes. Both Emma coats are in the light coats collection, alongside the Rea for daylight.
