90s I J. Peterman I Thai Caftan

She looked 48. I learned later she was probably 71.She sent her car for me (a sedate gray Daimler with white cotton slipcovered seats, an inscrutable Chinese driver, and ice-cold air-conditioning).Her house in Bangkok was enclosed by high walls. The guards were clearly armed. She was barefooted, unusually tall for a Thai woman, very beautiful, and wonderfully serene as well. Servants brought her a portable phone constantly; in the course of the afternoon I heard her speak effortlessly in French, in Thai, in two dialects of Chinese, in perfectly inflected American English as well as in flawlessly English English. A constant stream of adopted children flowed in and out; she spoke intimately to each, and to the kitchen servants, and to two young men and one young girl who were her current artists-in-residence. Her husband was away, in the south perhaps. She showed me works of art in progress: amazing mystical paintings on their way to becoming bolts of cloth and then classic, serenely floating, and flattering, Thai caftans. This is the one I chose. Thai Caftan Poncho style, ankle-length. Bottom sweep: 80”. Round neckline with V-shaped slit (5-3/4” deep). 100% cotton. Elaborate poetic “landscape” of symbolic Thai boatmen, meditative cats, pensive elephants, whirling and swirling natural forms, spirited fish, advancing waves. Multicolored: various fading lavenders, deep antique pinks, golds, subtle greens, and sparkling whites. A work of art. Source: See Notes (out of room!)