The Porcelain Garden | Vintage Carole Patterson 100% Silk Kimono Jacket
A striking piece of wearable textile art by Carole Patterson, rendered entirely in silk with the fluid drape and luminous finish that makes a kimono-style jacket so dramatic in motion. The composition moves from brilliant chartreuse and teal into deep garnet, creating a jewel-toned backdrop for oversized stylized florals and scrolling botanical motifs.
The back is the showpiece: a monumental blue-and-white porcelain vessel sits at the center of the composition, surrounded by large-scale flowers and curling foliage. The imagery recalls traditional Chinese blue-and-white porcelain and decorative arts, while the saturated palette gives the piece an unmistakably late-20th-century exuberance.
Cut in an open-front cocoon silhouette with wide kimono sleeves, it falls beautifully without relying on conventional tailoring. Carole Patterson’s printed signature appears within the artwork itself, giving the jacket an especially appealing artist-designed quality.
Why We Love It
The placement print makes this exceptional. Rather than a repeating textile, the garment has been composed almost like a painting, culminating in the large porcelain-vessel motif across the back. From behind, the jacket becomes an extraordinary graphic tableau; from the front, the sweeping florals and color-blocked borders frame the wearer.
It is equally compelling worn as an evening layer over a simple column dress, styled with trousers and a camisole, or displayed as part of a collection of artist-designed fashion.
Details
- Designer: Carole Patterson
- Era: Late 20th century
- Fabric: 100% silk
- Open-front kimono/cocoon silhouette
- Wide, draped sleeves
- Jewel-toned palette of teal, chartreuse, garnet, blue and olive
- Oversized botanical and scrolling decorative motifs
- Blue-and-white porcelain vessel centerpiece on back
- Contrast garnet edging
- Carole Patterson signature incorporated into the print
Measurements - O/S
Condition - Good
Collector’s Notes
What elevates this piece beyond a beautiful silk jacket is its use of the garment as a complete pictorial surface. The enormous porcelain vessel is deliberately centered across the back rather than simply repeated throughout the textile, giving the piece the feeling of an artist-designed panel or silk painting.
Blue-and-white porcelain imagery has traveled through decorative arts and Western fashion for centuries, valued for its instantly recognizable contrast and association with highly prized Chinese ceramics. Here, Patterson enlarges that visual vocabulary to architectural scale and surrounds it with an almost theatrical field of color. Combined with the silk construction and visible artist signature, it is precisely the kind of fashion piece that makes a compelling argument for clothing as collectible decorative art.