From the 1890s onwards, Fortuny alluded to medieval, renaissance, Japanese and oriental themes, using paper stencils to dye the fabric to produce coats and caftans. In this work he has used this kind of textile, combining it with wide, kimono-style sleeves and side vents to create a ‘T’-shaped coat. With a print of leaves entwined in gold and pink on deep green velvet of the bodice, the velvet borders and long tie have a renaissance pattern of leaves with lions and birds printed in gold. With its loose-fitting silhouette, this coat was designed to be worn over a ‘Delphos-style’ dress.The ancient Greek-style, pleated ‘Delphos’ dress is famous as being one of Fortuny’s most successful designs. Narrow irregular pleats flow from the shoulder covering the body in a natural way. This style is based on an entirely different concept to that of the ‘artificial’ silhouette created by corsets that had been the norm in Western Europe during the nineteenth century; it represented a completely new form of clothing that highlighted the ‘natural’ shape of the body. The side seams and armholes are picked out with beads which in addition to providing ornament, also served to provide weight to the dress. It should be noticed that the very structure of the clothing created decoration. This dress, which can be folded up very small and yet requires no ironing, was a revolutionary concept providing a functionality that foresaw the lifestyle of women in the twentieth century.