This Asian inspired coat is a very early example of the direction that Bonnie Cashin would explore in the decades to come: simple "T" shaped coat with narrow mandarin collar. Here she uses linen and embellishes it with frog closures in a design for Adler and Adler. Later those frogs would become her signature brass twist locks.description from "Vogue", June, 1950:
"Sawed-off Chinese coolie coat--new length: white Irish linen, frog closings: three-quarter length sleeves. A summer coat with more than one life to share. First and foremost, a life with a bathing suit; then, perhaps, over a slender skirt in town, slacks at home. Coat by Bonnie Cashin, $30, At Lord & Taylor; Garfinckel's; Neiman-Marcus."
This photo of Bonnie Cashin shows her wearing the same coat, worn casually with pushed up sleeves (a style she favored).
The second image shown here is from the UCLA Special Collections website on Bonnie Cashin