Many old pictures of Dorothy Parker feature the celebrated writer and wit clad in a luxurious mink coat. Parker—who was a part-time resident of rural Bucks County, Pennsylvania—purchased the coat from a Philadelphia furrier sometime around World War II. The glamorous garment hung down to Parker’s shins, and her cursive signature was even embroidered into its lining.
After Parker died, the coat was sold; currently, it belongs to a private collector. To mark the upcoming 50th anniversary of Parker’s June 7, 1967 death, Kevin Fitzpatrick—president of the Dorothy Parker Society, a group that promotes the late author’s work and legacy—has launched a Kickstarter campaign to purchase Parker’s mink and have it professionally cleaned and stored. He hopes to bring the coat back to Manhattan’s Algonquin Hotel (where Parker was a member of the famed Algonquin Round Table) on special occasions, and to use it to raise money for charity.
Fitzpatrick is offering the ultimate prize to donors who contribute $50 or more: the chance to actually wear Parker’s coat.
“If you’re in the Jane Austen Society, and they had anything Jane wore, do you think anyone would let you touch it, much less wear it around New York? I don’t think so,” Fitzpatrick jokes in a Kickstarter video.
Pledge $50, and you can try on the mink and take selfies in front of the Algonquin’s storied Round Table. $100 or more gets you a professional photo shoot of yourself wearing the coat in front of the Algonquin Hotel. And Parker fans who donate $250, $500, or $1000 can don the mink while enjoying a night out on the town. (The more you pay, the longer you get to wear it.)
The Kickstarter campaign has already met its goal, but you can still contribute (and score the chance to wear Parker’s mink) until March 1, 2017.
February 5, 2017 – 6:00am