This elaborate wool coat would be warm enough for a Seattle winter, but fancy enough to wear for an evening at the theater. It was purchased from retailer J. S. Graham, which opened just after the Great Seattle Fire of 1889.
J. S. Graham was a women’s specialty store and owner John Graham made routine buying trips to New York to select merchandise. He advertised a stock that included “Imported Costumes” from Paris, London, and Berlin. The exceptional workmanship of this coat suggests it was one of these imports—a piece that would bring prestige and clout to the store by its very presence.