The Overcoat Thread

[eazye]

Just started reading this thread from the beginning. Can’t believe I’m only now going through it. I’ve got a bunch of great overcoats in my personal collection if you guys would like to see some of them. Here’s another one of my faves, actually got it in a trade years ago from a fellow SF member. Super heavy emerald green twill Turnbull and Asser made by Chester Barrie.

 

[FlyingHorker]

Just started reading this thread from the beginning. Can’t believe I’m only now going through it. I’ve got a bunch of great overcoats in my personal collection if you guys would like to see some of them. Here’s another one of my faves, actually got it in a trade years ago from a fellow SF member. Super heavy emerald green twill Turnbull and Asser made by Chester Barrie.
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Man, definitely post all the coats you put in the SWD tailoring thread, I'm sure others here would enjoy seeing them as well.

When I made the thread, I meant "overcoat" pretty loosely. Any longer coat is great.

 

[eazye]

Cool. Will do! Most of my overcoats are full length. The longer the better imo.

 

[jellyroller]

Just started reading this thread from the beginning. Can’t believe I’m only now going through it. I’ve got a bunch of great overcoats in my personal collection if you guys would like to see some of them. Here’s another one of my faves, actually got it in a trade years ago from a fellow SF member. Super heavy emerald green twill Turnbull and Asser made by Chester Barrie.
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Goodness

 

[Jamesbond1]

Great advice for warming reptiles, humans not so much.

Fabric weight is only one slice of the whole pie.

What does one plan to wear with the coat?
Any scarves, toque/beanies, gloves?
How long is one usually outside?
Does one have other coats?
Does one wear the coat open?
How warm does one run?
What kind of enclosure does the coat have? Is the "V" deep or shallow?

I've worn my 360gm-ish coat over a suit before, up to -10C.

I've worn it over 2 hoodies in up to -20C. There was no wind that day.

I was warm in both situations.

In terms of comparable weight to warmth, it goes Cashmere>Camelhair>Wool

It also "wears" the worst in terms of durability, and is a relatively fine, smooth, dressy fibre. Not for me.

You don’t have to write a wardrobe bible to wear whatever you want to wear or go skinny dipping in -10 celcius!

It is a very light weight for cold temps!! Not all of us here are wearing 10 layers to justify fashion over function!!

 

[ppk]

Just started reading this thread from the beginning. Can’t believe I’m only now going through it. I’ve got a bunch of great overcoats in my personal collection if you guys would like to see some of them. Here’s another one of my faves, actually got it in a trade years ago from a fellow SF member. Super heavy emerald green twill Turnbull and Asser made by Chester Barrie.
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Simply wow! 🔥

 

[eazye]

Burberry polo coat I thrifted a few years ago in Chicago. Not prorsum but still the good stuff, made in Italy. It had pretty built up shoulders but I removed nearly all the padding to give it a more slouchy look.

 

[Connemara]

Wore this one to work today. Alan Flusser (made by Martin Greenfield) camel hair polo coat.

 

[TheSuitBurnsBetter]

Ebay purchase just arrived: a rumpled but beautiful balmacaan. No branding except the Harris Tweed tag and Garment Workers union bug.

Question for those in the know. Balmacaans typically have a raglan sleeve. This one has a regular shoulder seam on the front panel:

And a raglan sleeve on the back panel:

Is this common? Is it indicative of a particular brand that makes (or made) coats this way?

 

[eazye]

Not sure what the proper term is but I’ve been calling them half-raglans

 

[TheSuitBurnsBetter]

Not sure what the proper term is but I’ve been calling them half-raglans

Or mullet raglan? Business in front, party in the back.

 

[DSze9010]

Happy to answer and help in whatever way I can. as far as the symmetry, I honestly am not sure what you mean. I looked at the pics just now and there are many featuring the coat buttoned up, but since there are many buttoning possibilities I am not sure which you are looking at. Can you share the pic here that shows what youre asking about?

I would say the double breasted does definitely feel warmer. Curiously the material feels completely different. I have the cream/black donegal from a couple years back and the hand of the material feels "hard" and dense, if that makes sense. The double breasted one feels softer and "loftier", almost spongy, kind of. I imagine that it will allow more air to be trapped in it and be warmer. Notably, when I have tried it on prior to taking it to the tailor for sleeve alterations, it absolutely feels warmer than the balmacaans.

As far as sizing goes I take the same size as you, the 40(M). I am a size 40S in most things and like the fit of the coats, though they aren't as full as other offerings popular right now. I live in California so it is not that cold and I dont need something I can wear multiple layers under. That said, I could get away with sizing up in terms of the fullness of both coats, as they fit similarly with the double breasted being a touch fuller, but standing at a full 5'7" high, the next size would probably swallow me up. The gestalt of the coat would be off, I think, in that size on someone my height. It's a problem I run into trying on some of the fuller coats in style right now. If youre happy with your balmacaan after taking it out, I would say you could probably size up in the double breasted and be fine, provided you arent too short.

Let me know if that answers your questions, and I'm happy to elaborate further if you need.

Thanks for the in detail answer. Regarding the symmetry, I was talking about this picture: https://shop.permanentstyle.com/cdn/shop/files/madeinmanchestercoat_2000x2000.jpg?v=1698769864

Maybe the symmetry is off because the lapels don't lay flat. From the other pictures available, however, I'm sure whether the lapels even stay (completely) flat when buttoned

 

[slows2k]

Thanks for the in detail answer. Regarding the symmetry, I was talking about this picture: https://shop.permanentstyle.com/cdn/shop/files/madeinmanchestercoat_2000x2000.jpg?v=1698769864

Maybe the symmetry is off because the lapels don't lay flat. From the other pictures available, however, I'm sure whether the lapels even stay (completely) flat when buttoned

Ah, so about that pic: there are the visible 6 buttons outside on the front of the coat, and he has buttoned the outside to the middle button. On the inside of the coat there is one button to bolster the interior lapel of the coat when done up, but it sits at the highest buttoning level equivalent to the exterior buttons you can see here, so the asymmetry you see is actually because he has the interior buttoned at the higher level and the exterior buttoned at the mid level. hope that makes sense. I suppose the fact the lapel doesn't lay perfectly flat is that it isn't creased/ironed to. The material is pretty spongy so has a lot of body, but I imagine will relax once you wear it some. I dont have any pics of my own since it's at the tailor right now, but that is definitely not something I worried about when trying it on. In fact, I like the roll shown here.

 

[eazye]

Wore this one to work today. Alan Flusser (made by Martin Greenfield) camel hair polo coat.

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[Andy57]

Bit of a departure for me and I'm not sure it qualifies for this thread, as it's not a full length coat, but...

I don’t buy used or vintage clothes and I don’t buy clothes from eBay. But recently a good friend posted a picture wearing his shearling coat. That caused an old itch to resurface. About 30 years ago I was in Jackson, Wyoming and went into a Sawyer of Napa store (or it might have been an Overland store). I tried on a shearling coat and just loved it. I hemmed and hawed for quite a while before deciding that the coat was just too expensive (for me at that time in my life), a decision that I’ve regretted ever since, despite its clearly sensible quality. I started Googling for more images of shearling coats, as one does, and one of the hits was a picture of a coat for sale on eBay. It was my size, looked in pretty decent shape, it was by Sawyer of Napa and retailed by Lord & Taylor (both long since defunct) back in the ‘70s. And the price was well within that “impulse purchase” range. So I bought it and here it is. And before some smartass makes a comment: why, yes, yes I am the Marlboro Man!