The final weekend of the Rome Film Festival brought one of the most talked-about fashion moments of the season, and it came with more than half a century of history attached. At the premiere of the second season of Ryan Murphy’s legal drama All’s Fair on 24 October, Kris Jenner arrived in a sweeping black velvet cape that Elizabeth Taylor first wore in 1969.
A cape made for the Scorpio Ball
The story begins in Monte Carlo. In November 1969 Princess Grace of Monaco, born Grace Kelly on 12 November 1929, celebrated her 40th birthday with a Scorpio Ball, a party themed around her star sign. Guests born under Scorpio were invited with their partners, which is how Elizabeth Taylor, herself a Pisces, came to attend alongside her husband Richard Burton.
For the occasion Taylor chose a hooded evening cape by the Roman couture house Tiziani, in black velvet lined with ivory moiré silk and embroidered with sparkling diamanté scorpions, two on the front and one on the hood. Karl Lagerfeld was working as a freelance designer for Tiziani at the time, and Christie’s has suggested the cape may have been one of his designs, although this has never been confirmed. When Taylor’s collection was auctioned at Christie’s in December 2011, the cape was estimated at 2,000 to 3,000 dollars and sold for 74,500 dollars including fees.
From Monaco to Rome
According to Vanity Fair Italia, the cape now belongs to Jenner, and Kim Kardashian borrowed it for an episode of All’s Fair in which her character, the divorce lawyer Allura Grant, throws her own Scorpio-themed party. Vogue notes that it has not been confirmed whether the piece worn in Rome was the original or a faithful recreation. Either way, the choice was fitting: Jenner, an executive producer on the series, was born on 5 November and is a Scorpio too.
She wore the cape over a floor-length white gown with long white gloves and glittering jewellery, a theatrical look in the best Hollywood tradition. Kim Kardashian also looked to the archive, choosing a leopard-print Yves Saint Laurent Haute Couture design from autumn/winter 1986–87.
If the evening has you dreaming of old-school glamour, sparkle is the easiest way in. Frame the face with statement earrings, add a luminous piece from our pendant necklaces, or choose deep red ruby earrings for a touch of Taylor-style drama. Our bracelets look just as striking worn over long evening gloves.
Sources: Vanity Fair Italia, “Kris Jenner con il mantello che Elizabeth Taylor indossò al compleanno di Grace Kelly alla Festa del cinema di Roma” (25 October 2026); Vogue, “From Elizabeth Taylor to Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner: The Starry History of the Scorpio Cape” (October 2026); Christie’s, lot essay for the Tiziani ‘Scorpio’ evening cape (sale of 14 December 2011); Just Jared on the All’s Fair premiere in Rome (24 October 2026). Featured image: AI-generated illustration, not a photograph of the original cape or of Kris Jenner.
