Coat

For other uses, see Coat (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Overcoat, a garment meant solely as an outer garment.
Watercolor painting of a dark-bearded white man in glasses, a hat, and a long, thick, pale-colored coat with a fur collar. The man has his hands in his pockets, and the coat is open, showing indiscriminate clothing of a dark color beneath.
Man wearing a coat, painting by Julian Fałat, 1900

A coat is typically an outer garment for the upper body, worn by any gender for warmth or fashion.[1] Coats typically have long sleeves and are open down the front, and closing by means of buttons, zippers, hook-and-loop fasteners (AKA velcro), toggles, a belt, or a combination of some of these. Other possible features include collars, shoulder straps, and hoods.

Etymology

Coat is one of the earliest clothing category words in English, attested as far back as the early Middle Ages. (See also Clothing terminology.) The Oxford English Dictionary traces coat in its modern meaning to c. 1300, when it was written cote or cotte. The word coat stems from Old French and then Latin cottus.[2] It originates from the Proto-Indo-European word for woolen clothes.

An early use of coat in English is coat of mail (chainmail), a tunic-like garment of metal rings, usually knee- or mid-calf length.[3]

History

The origins of the Western-style coat may be traced to the sleeved, close-fitted and front-fastened coats worn by the scythian nomads of the eurasian steppes, though this style of coat may be much older, having been found with four-thousand-year-old Tarim mummies and in five-thousand-year-old mummy of Otzi[4][5][6][7][8] The medieval and renaissance coat (generally spelled cote or cotte by costume historians) is a mid-length, sleeved outer garment worn by both men and women, fitted to the waist and buttoned up the front, with a full skirt in its essentials, not unlike the modern coat.[9]

By the eighteenth century, overcoats had begun to supplant capes and cloaks as outerwear in Western fashion. Before the Industrial Revolution, which began in the second half of the eighteenth century, the extremely high cost of cloth meant certain styles of clothing represented wealth and rank, but as cloth became more affordable post-industrialization, people within a lower social class could adopt the fashionable outdoor wear of the wealthy elite, which, notably, included a coat.[10] In the nineteenth century, the invention of the sewing machine paired with existing textile machinery increased the affordability of mass-produced, ready-to-wear clothing and helped spur the popularity of wearing coats and jackets.[11] By the mid-twentieth century the terms jacket and coat became confused for recent styles; the difference in use is still maintained for older garments.

Coats, jackets and overcoats

Black-and-white fashion plate of two Victorian-era white men each wearing top hats, coats, trousers and black shoes. The man on the left is wearing an open, thick overcoat that reaches to his calves, with loose sleeves that reach his wrists and wide cuffs on the sleeves. The lapel is also broad, covering his shoulders. He is wearing a coat beneath this that reaches his knees that fastens off-center. Beneath that, a pair of checked trousers is visible on the lower-half and upper-half a vest is visible over a white shirt with a tall collar and small bowtie. The man on the right is wearing a buttoned topcoat that reaches his knees where it flares out. His sleeves reach his wrists and the coat is buttoned off-center with two rows of buttons. Beneath this are a pair of dark trousers and a barely visible neckline of a white shirt.
Overcoat (left) and topcoat (right) from The Gazette of Fashion, 1872

In the early nineteenth century, Western-style coats were divided into under-coats and overcoats. The term "under-coat" is now archaic but denoted the fact that the word coat could be both the outermost layer for outdoor wear (overcoat) or the coat is worn under that (under-coat). However, the term coat has begun to denote just the overcoat rather than the under-coat. The older usage of the word coat can still be found in the expression "to wear a coat and tie",[12] which does not mean that wearer has on an overcoat. Nor do the terms tailcoat, morning coat or house coat denote types of overcoat. Indeed, an overcoat may be worn over the top of a tailcoat. In tailoring circles, the tailor who makes all types of coats is called a coat maker. Similarly, in American English, the term sports coat is used to denote a type of jacket not worn as outerwear (overcoat) (sports jacket in British English).

Swedish police women with coats in 1958. That was their uniform.

The term jacket is a traditional term usually used to refer to a specific type of short under-coat.[13] Typical modern jackets extend only to the upper thigh in length, whereas older coats such as tailcoats are usually of knee length. The modern jacket worn with a suit is traditionally called a lounge coat (or a lounge jacket) in British English and a sack coat in American English. The American English term is rarely used. Traditionally, the majority of men dressed in a coat and tie, although this has become gradually less widespread since the 1960s. Because the basic pattern for the stroller (black jacket worn with striped trousers in British English) and dinner jacket (tuxedo in American English) are the same as lounge coats, tailors traditionally call both of these special types of jackets a coat.

An overcoat is designed to be worn as the outermost garment worn as outdoor wear;[14] while this use is still maintained in some places, particularly in Britain, elsewhere the term coat is commonly used mainly to denote only the overcoat, and not the under-coat. A topcoat is a slightly shorter[citation needed] overcoat, if any distinction is to be made. Overcoats worn over the top of knee length coats (under-coats) such as frock coats, dress coats, and morning coats are cut to be a little longer than the under-coat so as to completely cover it, as well as being large enough to accommodate the coat underneath.

The length of an overcoat varies: mid-calf being the most frequently found and the default when current fashion is not concerned with hemlines. Designs vary from knee-length to ankle-length, briefly fashionable in the early 1970s and known (to contrast with the usurped mini) as the "maxi".[15]

Speakers of American English sometimes informally use the words jacket and coat interchangeably.[16]

Types

Eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

Men's

Some of these styles are still worn. Note that for this period, only coats of the under-coat variety are listed, and overcoats are excluded.

Women's

  • A headless mannequin is wearing a green quilted skirt and over it wearing a pink caraco with with a purple fern motif. The caraco is a fitted coat that passes the hip of the wearer and buttons up the front; this version has full, fitted sleeves, a square neckline, and there is a large gap at the front skirt of the caraco.
    Caraco, an eighteenth- and nineteenth-century fitted coat initially associated with the working class; it is similar to a Bedgown
  • A fashion plate of three individuals, two white women modeling the casaquin: one green casaquin over a maroon dress with a wide crinoline and the second a maroon and green striped one over a matching dress. The casaquin is a coat that falls somewhere between the hips and knees and is wide enough around the skirt of the coat to lay over a wide-hooped skirt. The sleeves of these particular examples are wide and three-fourths length. It's fitted around the bodice. There is a white man in the middle with a tricorn hat, an ivory jacket that reaches his knees with a flared skirt. It has loose sleeves with wide cuffs, and the coat is worn over white stockings and black boots. He has a walking stick in his hand.
    Casaquin, an eighteenth-century coat that fastened down the middle and reached the hip
  • A drawing of a veiled woman in a big purple hat and a purple, long-sleeved redingote: a coat that is fitted at the bodice and hits above the hips at the front but cut so that it is left long in the back so that it reaches the floor. Under the coat is a white, floor-length gown. She is carrying a riding crop.
    Redingote, an eighteenth-century fitted riding coat with a long skirt down the back worn as a part of a riding habit
  • Full-body mannequin wearing a white, floor-length empire waist dress with three rows of ruffles around the bottom and a copper-colored spencer jacket: a long-sleeved, form fitted jacket that reaches the waist and has puffs at the shoulders.
    Spencer, a waist-length, frequently double-breasted, coat from the early nineteenth century sometimes made of the same cloth as the gown beneath it
  • A headless mannequin wearing a light beige floor-length coat that buttons up the middle with three lines of decorative, zigzagging cording along the fitted bodice, long sleeves, and scalloped collar
    Pelisse, an early-nineteenth-century high-waisted and fitted long coat
  • A color fashion plate of a green gown with a train and lace around the sleeve hems and a basque bodice. The bodice is made from a matching cloth and buttons up the front. It has short, square tails in the back.
    Basque bodice, a Victorian-era coat that was sometimes made with tails
  • A black-and-white fashion plate of six women each wearing long gowns (three white, one dark, two hidden behind other women) and paletots: coats that are fitted to the arms and bodice but flair out to lay over the gowns rounded by crinolines, each coat is shown at a different length and with different shapes around the hem, such as one whose hem is large zigzags, another comes to a point, another is asymmetrical so that it comes longer in the back, and another is the same length all the way around.
    Paletot, a nineteenth-century mid- to full-length coat similar in design to the casaquin in which it is fastens in the front and is fitted to the waist before widening to drape over the skirt
  • Black-and-white photograph of a young black woman wearing a hat with feathers and a suit: a coat with with long, leg-of-mutton sleeves and wide-black lapels with a skirt the same cloth as the coat. The coat's skirt passes just over her hips. The coat is open to show a white blouse beneath. The woman is holding a cane behind her back.
    Suit coats, a development in the late nineteenth century in which coats or jackets paired with a skirt of the same cloth were worn for purposes other than as riding habits; developed into women's modern suit sets
Color photograph of a burgundy-colored, very loose fitting coat that opens down the middle, reaches the wearer's knees and has short loose-sleeves that stop before the elbow. There is a rough appearance to the texture of the cloth.
An evening coat from the 1950s by designer Sybil Connolly

Modern

Further information on modern coats: Jacket

The terms coat and jacket are both used around the world. The modern terms "jacket" and "coat" are often used interchangeably as terms, although the term "coat" tends to be used to refer to longer garments.

Modern coats include the:

See also

Bibliography

  • Antongiavanni, Nicholas: The Suit, HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 2006. ISBN 0-06-089186-6
  • Byrd, Penelope: The Male Image: men's fashion in England 1300-1970. B. T. Batsford Ltd, London, 1979. ISBN 978-0-7134-0860-7
  • Croonborg, Frederick: The Blue Book of Men's Tailoring. Croonborg Sartorial Co., New York and Chicago, 1907
  • Cunnington, C. Willett; Cunnington, Phillis (1959): Handbook of English Costume in the 19th Century, Plays Inc, Boston, 1970 reprint
  • Devere, Louis: The Handbook of Practical Cutting on the Centre Point System (London, 1866); revised and edited by R. L. Shep. R. L. Shep, Mendocino, California, 1986. ISBN 0-914046-03-9
  • Doyle, Robert: The Art of the Tailor, Sartorial Press Publications, Stratford, Ontario, 2005. ISBN 0-9683039-2-7
  • Mansfield, Alan; Cunnington, Phillis: Handbook of English Costume in the 20th Century 1900-1950, Plays Inc, Boston, 1973 ISBN 0-8238-0143-8
  • Snodgrass, Mary Ellen: World Clothing and Fashion: An Encyclopedia of History, Culture, and Social Influence, Volume 1, Sharpe Reference, Armonk, NY, 2014. ISBN 978-0-7656-8300-7
  • Stephenson, Angus (editor): The Shorter Oxford Dictionary. Oxford University Press, New York, 2007
  • Unknown author: The Standard Work on Cutting Men’s Garments. 4th ed. Originally pub. 1886 by Jno J. Mitchell, New York. ISBN 0-916896-33-1
  • Vincent, W. D. F.: The Cutter’s Practical Guide. Vol II "All kinds of body coats". The John Williamson Company, London, circa 1893.
  • Waugh, Norah: The Cut of Men's Clothes 1600-1900, Routledge, London, 1964. ISBN 0-87830-025-2
  • Whife, A. A (ed): The Modern Tailor Outfitter and Clothier; 4th revised ed. 3 vols. The Caxton Publishing Company Ltd, London, 1951

References

  1. ^ "coat : Oxford English Dictionary". Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved 2021-12-06.
  2. ^ "Home : Oxford English Dictionary". www.oed.com. Retrieved 2016-07-09.
  3. ^ "Encarta". Archived from the original on 2009-08-29.
  4. ^ Welters, Linda; Lillethun, Abby (2018). Fashion History: A Global View. London: Bloomsbury. pp. 113–114. ISBN 978-1-4742-5363-5.
  5. ^ Yi-Chang, Young-Soo (2016). "The Study on the Scythian Costume III - Focaused on the Scythian of the Pazyryk region in Altai -". Fashion & Textile Research Journal. 18 (4): 424–437. doi:10.5805/SFTI.2016.18.4.424.
  6. ^ Kim, M. (2007). "A study on the Scythian costume". Journal of Fashion Business. 11: 204–220.
  7. ^ Opuscula Atheniensia. C.W.K. Gleerup. 1984. ISBN 978-91-85086-59-7.
  8. ^ "Clothing". Museo Archeologico dell’Alto Adige. Retrieved 2024-09-26.
  9. ^ Goldentul, Zhanna; University of Louisville (2009). Coats:A discussion of garment, evolution, and identity. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-109-30027-7. Retrieved 14 September 2011.[permanent dead link‍]
  10. ^ Wilson, Elizabeth (1987). Adorned in Dreams: Fashion and Modernity. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 26–27. ISBN 0-520-06122-5.
  11. ^ Cooper, Grace Rogers (1968). The Sewing Machine: Its Invention and Development (2nd ed.). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 57–59. ISBN 0-87474-330-3.
  12. ^ McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs (2002)
  13. ^ Oxford English Dictionary. (1989) 2nd ed. jacket, n. "...a short coat without tails..."
  14. ^ Oxford English Dictionary. (1989) 2nd ed. overcoat, n. "A large coat worn over the ordinary clothing..."
  15. ^ Christopher Booker (1980) The Seventies
  16. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 1971

General: Picken, Mary Brooks: The Fashion Dictionary, Funk and Wagnalls, 1957. (1973 edition ISBN 978-0-308-10052-7)