I don't really know what to call this garment. A Paddock Coat? A Topcoat? I'm going to say it's an Edwardian Covert Coat even though it's fairly short.
Whatever it is, it's in excellent condition for its age and very rare, especially considering its large size. The quality is fantastic, probably the best quality I've ever seen in a garment, vintage or not. Tailors really knew what they were doing back then.
Unfortunately there are no tags to be found anywhere on the coat, which is fairly unusual. Perhaps the client forbade the tailor from attaching any tags. Or the client removed the maker's tags afterward, though there is no evidence that tags were attached to begin with.
The wool is extremely heavy weight and thick; a dense wool like none I've seen before. Even the thick wool of 1950s U.S. Navy Peacoats cannot compare. And the velvour collar, it too is like nothing I've ever felt. Extremely soft and luxurious.
There's no doubt this coat cost its owner quite a bit when it was first made. The quality if first rate as are the materials used, like nothing found today.
click images to enlarge
I love how the stitching throughout the coat is absolutely perfect and yet under the collar it's far from perfect: gives it character, a personal touch. This shows that it was handmade and therefore a custom job:
A surprisingly colorful lining:
Here's W.H. Taft wearing a similar coat back in the early 1920s.
3 comments:
Thats a Chesterfield Coat with notch instead of the much coveted Peak lapels.
Could be shorter for use in the car. I don't know how old it is, but I have a car coat about the same length and a similar style, but without the characteristic velvet collar of a Chesterfield.
I'm going to have to agree with the Chesterfield Coat theory. This specific coat is fairly short and was probably tailor made for a shorter man. Car coats, I believe, were not around during the Edwardian period.
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