witzchoura

{{short description|Type of cloak}}

File:Costume Parisien 1290 - Chapeau de Satin à Raies de Velours. Witz-chouras de Reps. 1813..jpg

A witzchoura (sometimes witz-chouras) was a type of mantle, pelisse, or sleeved cloak, with a large collar and, sometimes, a hood, that was particularly fashionable in the early 19th century.{{cite book|last1=Joannis|first1=Claudette|title=L'élégance sous l'Empire : Joséphine à Malmaison : Musée national des châteaux de Bois-Préau et Malmaison|date=2007|publisher=Réunion des Musées nationaux|location=Paris|isbn=9782711851232}} The term derives from the Polish word wilczura, meaning 'wolf fur coat'.{{cite web |title=wilczura |website=sjp.pwn.pl |language=pl |access-date=2018-01-25 |url=https://sjp.pwn.pl/doroszewski/wilczura;5516194.html}} It was inspired by Polish styles, hence sometimes being described as a la Polonaise,{{cite book|title=La Belle Assemblée: Or, Court and Fashionable Magazine; Containing Interesting and Original Literature, and Records of the Beau-monde|date=January 1827|publisher=J. Bell|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rsERAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA30|chapter=Cabinet of Taste: Costume of Paris|quote=A woman of fashion well wrapped up in a Witzchoura pelisse, with sleeves á la Polonaise, ought to wear black velvet boots...}} although it is not the same as the gown called a polonaise. Like the original hussar's pelisse, it was typically lined with fur.

The witzchoura is said to have emerged about 1808, soon after Napoleon met with his Polish mistress, Marie Walewska, and was worn throughout the first half of the 19th century. Versions of the witzchoura were still being worn for travelling in 1849.{{cite book |last1=Cunnington |first1=C. Willett |title=English women's clothing in the nineteenth century |date=1990 |publisher=Dover Publications|location=New York |isbn=9780486319636 |page=154 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NELDAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA154}}