A coat typically is an outer garment for the upper body as worn by either gender for warmth or

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

. Coats typically have long

sleeve A sleeve ( ang, slīef, a word allied to ''slip'', cf. Dutch ) is the part of a garment that covers the arm, or through which the arm passes or slips. The sleeve is a characteristic of fashion seen in almost every country and time period, acro ...

s and are open down the front and closing by means of buttons, zippers, hook-and-loop fasteners, toggles, a

belt Belt may refer to: Apparel * Belt (clothing), a leather or fabric band worn around the waist * Championship belt, a type of trophy used primarily in combat sports * Colored belts, such as a black belt or red belt, worn by martial arts practition ...

, or a combination of some of these. Other possible features include collars, shoulder straps and

hood Hood may refer to: Covering Apparel * Hood (headgear), type of head covering ** Article of Academic dress#Hood, academic dress ** Bondage hood, sex toy * Hoodie, hooded sweatshirt Anatomy * Clitoral hood, a hood of skin surrounding the clitori ...

Etymology

''Coat'' is one of the earliest clothing category words in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, attested as far back as the early

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. (''See also'' Clothing terminology.) The

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...

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.'' It originates from the

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo-E ...

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.

History

The origins of the Western-style coat can be traced to the sleeved, close-fitted and front-fastened coats worn by the nomads of the Central Asian steppes in the eleventh century, though this style of coat may be much older, having been found with four-thousand-year-old

Tarim mummies The Tarim mummies are a series of mummies discovered in the Tarim Basin in present-day Xinjiang, China, which date from 1800 BC to the first centuries BC, with a new group of individuals recently dated to between c. 2100 and 1700 BC.School of Li ...

. The medieval and renaissance coat (generally spelled ''cote'' or ''cotte'' by costume historians) is a mid-length,

d 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. By the eighteenth century, overcoats had begun to supplant capes and cloaks as outerwear in Western fashion. Before the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

, 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. 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. 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

In the early 19th 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 An overcoat is a type of long coat (clothing), coat intended to be worn as the outermost garment, which usually extends below the knee. Overcoats are most commonly used in winter when warmth is more important. They are sometimes confused with ...

) 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", which does not mean that wearer has on an overcoat. Nor do the terms ''

tailcoat A tailcoat is a knee-length coat characterised by a rear section of the skirt, known as the ''tails'', with the front of the skirt cut away. The tailcoat shares its historical origins in clothes cut for convenient horse riding in the Early Mode ...

'', ''

morning coat A tailcoat is a knee-length coat (clothing), coat characterised by a rear section of the skirt, known as the ''tails'', with the front of the skirt cut away. The tailcoat shares its historical origins in clothes cut for convenient horse riding i ...

'' or house coat denote types of

. Indeed, an overcoat may be worn over the top of a

. In tailoring circles, the

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

who makes all types of coats is called a ''coat maker''. Similarly, in American English, the term ''

sports coat A sport coat, also called a sport jacket (or sports coat or sports jacket in American English), is a men's smart casual lounge jacket designed to be worn on its own without matching trousers, traditionally for sporting purposes. Styles, fabrics, ...

'' is used to denote a type of

jacket A jacket is a garment for the upper body, usually extending below the hips. A jacket typically has sleeves, and fastens in the front or slightly on the side. A jacket is generally lighter, tighter-fitting, and less insulating than a coat, which ...

not worn as outerwear (overcoat) (''sports jacket'' in British English). The term ''jacket'' is a traditional term usually used to refer to a specific type of short under-coat.

. (1989) 2nd ed. jacket, ''n.'' "...a short coat without tails..." Typical modern jackets extend only to the upper thigh in length, whereas older coats such as

s 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 Various methods of transporting children have been used in different cultures and times. These methods include baby carriages (prams in British English), infant car seats, portable bassinets (carrycots), strollers (pushchairs), slings, backpacks ...

(black jacket worn with striped trousers in

British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...

) and dinner jacket (

tuxedo Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal element fo ...

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lan ...

) 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;

. (1989) 2nd ed. overcoat, ''n.'' "A large coat worn over the ordinary clothing..." 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 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 A tailcoat is a knee-length coat (clothing), coat characterised by a rear section of the skirt, known as the ''tails'', with the front of the skirt cut away. The tailcoat shares its historical origins in clothes cut for convenient horse riding i ...

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 isn't 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 The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

) as the "maxi".Christopher Booker (1980) The Seventies Speakers of

sometimes informally use the words ''jacket'' and ''coat'' interchangeably.''

'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1971

Types

18th and 19th 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

s are excluded. File:Voet-duque de medinacelli-prado.jpg, alt=Oil painting of a white man with a large, curled wig of a medium brown. He is wearing a red coat ostentatiously decorated with cording of horizontal, diamond-shaped designs. The coat is fitted to the hips where it flares out and stops at the knees. The sleeves are long and fitted with lace around the cuffs. Lace also falls over the neck of the coat. Underneath the coat, the man is wearing black stockings and black shoes. He is holding a walking stick and standing next to a table covered in red and gold cloth.,

Justacorps A justacorps or justaucorps () is a knee-length coat worn by men in the latter half of the 17th century and throughout the 18th century. The garment is of French origin, and was introduced in England as a component of a three-piece ensemble, which ...

, a seventeenth and eighteenth century knee-length coat, fitted to the waist with flared skirts File:Frock Coat April 1904.jpg, alt=A black-and-white drawing of a white woman and white man getting married. The woman is wearing a white gown that is loose at the top, fitted at the waist, and loose to the ground with a small bustle at the rear. The man is wearing a long, black coat that fastens off-center and reaches just past his knees with slight waist definition. The sleeves of his jacket are slender but not tight and reach his wrists. Beneath this he has on a white shirt with a high collar, just visible beneath the coat's V-neck, and slim dark trousers over black shoes. The woman is wearing a veil over her hair but the man is not wearing a hat. There is a flower on his lapel, and the woman is holding a bouquet., Frock coat, a kneelength men's coat of the nineteenth century File:Morning dress 1901.jpg, alt=A black-and-white drawing of a white man in a top hat and an open coat that is cut so that it reaches to his knees in the back but it open in the front, curving in toward the waist. The sleeves are long and fitted but not tight. Beneath the coat, he is wearing striped, fitted trousers, a vest, and a white shirt with a high collar. He is holding a walking stick.,

Morning coat A tailcoat is a knee-length coat (clothing), coat characterised by a rear section of the skirt, known as the ''tails'', with the front of the skirt cut away. The tailcoat shares its historical origins in clothes cut for convenient horse riding i ...

or cutaway, a dress coat still worn as

formal wear Formal wear or full dress is the Western dress code category applicable for the most formal occasions, such as weddings, Baptism, christenings, confirmations, funerals, Easter traditions, Easter and Christmas traditions, in addition to certain ...

File:Mens evening wear costumes parisiens 1912.jpg, alt=A cartoon of a white man with hands in his trouser pockets. He is wearing a black coat with long tails down the back but cut in a way that it stops at the waist in the front. Beneath the coat he is wearing a white shirt, low-cut white vest, and black trousers.,

Tailcoat A tailcoat is a knee-length coat characterised by a rear section of the skirt, known as the ''tails'', with the front of the skirt cut away. The tailcoat shares its historical origins in clothes cut for convenient horse riding in the Early Mode ...

(dress coat in tailor's parlance), a late eighteenth century men's coat preserved in today's white tie and tails File:BlackWatch Jacket (Borodino Battlefield Museum).jpg, alt=A color photograph of a red coat cut high-waisted in the front and slightly longer in the back so that it reaches the hips. There is white cording in a spade-like design along the fasteners and wool puffs along the shoulders. The collar is high and black but opens at in a V-shape along the neck. The cuffs are also black with white cording in the same spade-like design like that along the front fasteners.,

Coatee A coatee was a type of tight fitting uniform coat or jacket, which was waist length at the front and had short tails behind. The coatee began to replace the long tail coat in western armies at the end of the eighteenth century, but was itself supe ...

, an early 19th-century military coat, still worn with Highland dress. File:Duke and Hitoshi Narita 2002.jpg, alt=A color photograph of three men standing together, each wearing black jackets and black trousers. The jacket is open in a deep V-shape toward the waist where it buttons. Each man is wearing a bow tie over the collar of their white shirts and each has a pocket handkerchief sticking out of their breast pocket. Their shoes are black., Dinner jacket, a men's semi-formal evening lounge coat. File:NewYearsEve01.jpg, alt=A white man with a goatee is wearing a maroon-colored jacket that ties around the middle with black ribbon. The lapels are wide and black. The jacket is open to the waist, showing a white, high collared shirt beneath with a black bowtie. The man is holding two champagne glasses., Smoking jacket, a men's jacket worn informally with

black tie Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal element fo ...

File:John F Kennedy Official Portrait.jpg, alt=A painting of a white man, former American president John F. Kennedy, wearing a gray-colored coat that reaches past his hips and is cut in a rounded shape around the front hem. It fastens at the waist. The sleeves are long and fitted to his wrists with the cuffs of the white shirt beneath barely visible. Visible at the V-neck of the jacket is the white shirt with a dark-colored tie. He is looking down and has his arms crossed over his chest., Lounge coat or sack coat, a coat which is also a

File:Duster coat used by one of the Younger Brothers.jpg, alt=Photograph of a buff-colored duster, a front-fastened coat with a mantel over the shoulders that covers most of the arms.,

Duster coat A duster is a light, loose-fitting long coat. The original dusters were full-length, light-colored canvas or linen coats worn by horsemen to protect their clothing from trail dust. These dusters were typically slit up the back to hip level for ...

or simply "duster" worn when riding horseback

Women's

File:Caraco jacket in printed cotton, 1770-1790, skirt in quilted silk satin, 1750-1790.jpg, alt=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 bedgown (sometimes bed gown, bedjacket or shortgown) is an article of women's clothing for the upper body, usually thigh-length and wrapping or tying in front. Bedgowns of lightweight printed cotton fabric were fashionable at-home morning wear i ...

File:Antoine Hérisset-Les Palatines. Habit ordinaire. Les Casaquins -Rijksmuseum.jpg, alt=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 File:Gallerie des Modes et Costumes Français 1787, No. lll, Pl. 338 Rodingotte de taffetas violet, RP-P-2009-1900.jpg, alt=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 File:Woman's Spencer Jacket and Petticoat LACMA M.2007.211.15a-b (1 of 9).jpg, alt=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 File:Pelisse MET 29.1158 front CP4.jpg, alt=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 A pelisse was originally a short fur-trimmed jacket which hussar light-cavalry soldiers from the 17th century onwards usually wore hanging loose over the left shoulder, ostensibly to prevent sword cuts. The name also came to refer to a fashionab ...

, an early nineteenth century high-waisted and fitted long coat File:Douglas Campbell, Gown, c. 1940, NGA 14895.jpg, alt=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 File:Six Women Outdoors, No. 676, from La Elegancia MET DP819134.jpg, alt=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 paletot is a type of topcoat. The name is French, but etymologically derived from the Middle English word ''paltok'', meaning a kind of jacket. Historically, it was a semi-fitted to fitted coat, double-breasted or single-breasted, the f ...

, 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 File:African American Woman (MSA) (5788378587).jpg, alt=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 Burgundy evening coat by Sybil Connolly

Modern

The terms ''coat'' and ''jacket'' are both used around the world. The modern terms "

" 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: * British Warm *

Car coat A car coat is an outer garment originally made to be worn by automobile drivers and passengers. First designed to provide maximum warmth and coverage, over time it became a much shorter garment. Today it describes a coat that typically ends at mid ...

Chesterfield coat The Chesterfield is a formal, dark, knee-length overcoat with a velvet collar introduced around the 1840s in the United Kingdom, with prominence attributed to its namesake George Stanhope, 6th Earl of Chesterfield, then a leader of British fash ...

Covert coat A covert coat or Crombie coat is a gentleman's overcoat typically with notched lapels which originated in the late 19th century as a "short topcoat" to be worn for hunting and horse riding. Since the 20th century, after the introduction of the ...

Duffel coat A duffel coat (also duffle coat) is a coat made from duffel cloth, designed with toggle-and-rope fastenings, patched pockets and a large hood. The name derives from Duffel, a town in the province of Antwerp in Belgium where the manufacturing pro ...

* Parka * Pea coat * Raincoat or

Mackintosh The Mackintosh or raincoat (abbreviated as mac) is a form of waterproof raincoat, first sold in 1824, made of rubberised fabric. The Mackintosh is named after its Scottish inventor Charles Macintosh, although many writers added a letter ''k' ...

Trench coat A trench coat or trenchcoat is a variety of coat made of waterproof heavy-duty fabric, originally developed for British Army officers before the First World War, and becoming popular while used in the trenches. Originally made from gabardine, ...

Bibliography

*Antongiavanni, Nicholas: ''The Suit'', HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 2006. *Byrd, Penelope: ''The Male Image: men's fashion in England 1300-1970''. B. T. Batsford Ltd, London, 1979. *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 is the professional name of Robert Lee "Robb" Shep (27 February 1933 - December 21, 2022), an American artist, writer, publisher, textile scholar, shiatsu practitioner, and member of the Mendocino Healing Community. Shep is best known fo ...

. R. L. Shep, Mendocino, California, 1986. *Doyle, Robert: ''The Art of the Tailor'', Sartorial Press Publications, Stratford, Ontario, 2005. *Mansfield, Alan; Cunnington, Phillis: ''Handbook of English Costume in the 20th Century 1900-1950'', Plays Inc, Boston, 1973 *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. *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. *Whife, A. A (ed): ''The Modern Tailor Outfitter and Clothier''; 4th revised ed. 3 vols. The Caxton Publishing Company Ltd, London, 1951

References

General: Picken, Mary Brooks: ''The Fashion Dictionary'', Funk and Wagnalls, 1957. (1973 edition ) {{DEFAULTSORT:Coat (Clothing) History of clothing (Western fashion) Medieval European costume