Waistcoat c. 1936

Marie Mitchell made this waistcoat design with graphite and watercolor on paper. Look at how she’s used horizontal bands of pale color to describe the main body of the garment - it’s almost architectural in its simplicity. What I love about this work is how she’s made it both a rendering and a plan. It feels so process-driven. You can see the ghost of the waistcoat's back view sketched to the side in simple line. The little details are charming; the buttons march down the front, each one perfectly placed. Then there are the delicate, stylized floral motifs embroidered on the collar and scattered across the front. Each element is rendered with such care, it’s as if she’s envisioning the waistcoat not just as an object, but as an experience. It reminds me of Hilma af Klint’s botanical drawings, where observation becomes something spiritual. It’s a reminder that art, like fashion, is always a conversation, a back-and-forth between what is, what could be, and how we see the world.