University of North Texas 
Garment Overview
Men's court coat of light blue cotton velvet with silk hand-embroidery in floral and leaf motifs. The knee-length coat features long sleeves with curved shaping at the elbow, ending in wide embroidered cuffs with coordinated buttons. Symmetrical embroidery frames the band collar and front opening, with non-functional coordinated buttons completing the look. Double welt pockets with all-over embroidery on the flaps are positioned at the hips. The back of the garment features split tails from natural waist to hem of the garment, with openings embroidered and trimmed with non-functional buttons. The original lining has been replaced, with darker blue fabric patches added to further reinforce the lining.
Designer unknown (European), ca. the 1780s
Donated by the Estate of Scott and Stuart Gentling to the Texas Fashion Collection,
College of Visual Arts and Design, University of North Texas
The collectors of this garment were artists who amassed a large number of late eighteenth-century garments. These objects were both worn and used as props in their studio practice. When they passed away, their sister Suzanne Gentling donated the entire collection of clothing to the Texas Fashion Collection.
Interested in checking out this garment?
Host a garment in your classroom by contacting the Onstead Institute at onstead@unt.edu or 940-565-3954 for more information. Garments are available to K-12 teachers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Items are located at the Texas Fashion Collection at the University of North Texas, Denton, Texas.
Court Coat Lessons
Lesson 1.1 Embroidery and Expression
This lesson includes observation and analysis of the garment and is supplemented with contextual and historical information to teach students how the material and embellishment elements of clothing is used to communicate status, wealth, and respectability. The activity asks students to use embroidery to communicate something about themselves by designing an original embroidery motif. Click on the below links to download the documents. Depending on your browser, documents may download but not open automatically.
1.1 Embroidery and Expression Lesson
1.1 Embroidery Design Activity Handout
1.1.1 Supporting document: 1790s Men's Suit
1.1.2 Supporting document: 1788 Embroidery Pattern
1.1.3 Supporting document: 1785 Embroidery Print
1.1.4 Supporting document: 1780s French Waistcoat Embroidery
1.1.5 Sewing document: Setting up an embroidery hoop
1.1.6 Sewing document: Using a needle and thread
1.1.7 Sewing document: Making a finishing knot
1.1.8 Sewing document: Embroidering a running stitch
1.1.9 Sewing document: Embroidering a satin stitch
1.1.10 Sewing document: Embroidering a cross stitch
Lesson 1.2 Making Clothes
This lesson engages in an object-based analysis of a 1780s court coat and highlights the contextual and historical background of the garment in terms of the construction process and fashionable silhouette. The construction activity challenges students to work with two-dimensional materials to create three-dimensional art objects. Click on the below links to download the documents. Depending on your browser, documents may download but not open automatically.
1.2 Making Clothes Lesson
1.2.1 Supporting document: Janet Arnold Pattern Illustration
1.2.2 Supporting document: 1770s Men's Suit
1.2.3 Supporting document: Kate Middleton's Dress
1.2.4 Making document: Beach Ball Pattern
1.2.5 Sewing document: Using a needle and thread
1.2.6 Sewing document: Making a finishing knot
1.2.7 Sewing document: Hand-sewing seams
1.2.8 Making document: Material shaping and pattern making
Lesson 1.3 Silhouettes
This lesson engages in observing the cut and shape of a garment, highlighting how prevailing fashionable silhouettes would have existed in society, how space was navigated wearing these fashionable clothes, and how the creation of these shapes involved engineered undergarments. The activity asks students to expand on the idea of shape and silhouette to engineer scaffolding for an accessory, miniature garment, or sculpture object.
1.3 Silhouette Lesson
1.3 Silhouette Activity Handout
1.3.1 Supporting Document: Bustle Foundation Examples
1.3.2 Supporting Document: Pipe cleaner figures
Additional Resources
Each lesson also contains links to additional web resources.
Flights of Fancy: The curious and artistic world of the brothers Gentling (PDF): This 1987 article from Dallas Life Magazine offers a glimpse into the art and lives of Stuart and Scott Gentling.
Colonial Williamsburg, “A Day in the Life: Dress the Part": This interactive website allows students to explore how members of the different social strata dressed in the 18th century.
The Elegant: Men's Fashion of the 18th and 19th Centuries: Discover the gentleman's elegant garments of the 18th- and 19th-century through the dress collection (website) at the Kunstgewerbemuseum, National Museums in Berlin.
Additional Images
Click on the image to enlarge it.
