An overcoat is a type of long

coat A coat typically is an outer garment for the upper body as worn by either gender for warmth or fashion. Coats typically have long sleeves and are open down the front and closing by means of buttons, zippers, hook-and-loop fasteners, toggles, a ...

intended to be worn as the outermost garment, which usually extends below the knee. Overcoats are most commonly used in

winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures ...

when warmth is more important. They are sometimes confused with or referred to as topcoats, which are shorter and end at or above the knees. Topcoats and overcoats together are known as outercoats. Unlike overcoats, topcoats are usually made from lighter weight cloth such as

gabardine Gabardine Burberry advertisement for waterproof gabardine suit, 1908 Gabardine is a durable twill worsted wool, a tightly woven fabric originally waterproof and used to make suits, overcoats, trousers, uniforms, windbreakers, outerwear and o ...

or covert, while overcoats are made from heavier cloth or

fur Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket t ...

History

In many countries, coats and gowns reaching below the knee have been worn for centuries, often for formal uses, establishing either social status or as part of a professional or

military uniform A military uniform is a standardised dress worn by members of the armed forces and paramilitaries of various nations. Military dress and styles have gone through significant changes over the centuries, from colourful and elaborate, ornamented c ...

. In the 17th century, the overcoat became widely stylized and available to the different classes. In the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and state (polity), states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

, the general profile of overcoats has remained largely unchanged for a long time. During the

Regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

, the fashion was to have very form-fitting clothes, with sidebodies, waist seams, and a flared skirt. Examples of this included the

frock overcoat An over-frock coat is a formal overcoat designed to be worn over a frock coat if needed in cold weather. A top-frock coat may also be worn over a frock coat in milder weather. Shaped like the body coats popular in the Victorian and Edwardian per ...

and

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 ...

Chesterfield coat

The over-frock coat gradually shifted to the looser styles more common now, typified by the

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 ...

, which became popular by the end of the Victorian period. Until then, most coats were double-breasted, but Chesterfields and accompanying styles like the

guard's coat A Guards Coat or Guard's Coat (sometimes Guardsman's coat) is a men's Overcoat which has a half belt in the back, and is based on the coat that used to be worn by English Officers of the Guard. It is a double-breasted garment in either a 6x3 (more ...

were worn in both single- and double-breasted varieties. More recently, there is a decline in the wearing of full-length overcoats, and double-breasted ones are much less common.

Greatcoat

Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier-Campagne de France

Overcoats in various forms have been used by militaries since at least the late 18th century, and were especially associated with winter campaigns, such as

Napoleon's Russian campaign The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign, the Second Polish War, the Army of Twenty nations, and the Patriotic War of 1812 was launched by Napoleon Bonaparte to force the Russian Empire back into the Continental System ...

. The full-length overcoat was once again popularised by the use during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

of the

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, ...

. Stereotypically, overcoats used by the army tended to be

single-breasted A single-breasted garment is a coat, jacket, vest, or similar item having one column of buttons and a narrow overlap of fabric. In contrast, a double-breasted coat has a wider overlap and two parallel rows of buttons. Single-breasted suit jac ...

, while navies often used

double-breasted A double-breasted garment is a coat, jacket, waistcoat, or dress with wide, overlapping front flaps which has on its front two symmetrical columns of buttons; by contrast, a single-breasted item has a narrow overlap and only one column of button ...

overcoats. Overcoats continued to be used as

battle dress A combat uniform, also called field uniform, battledress or military fatigues, is a casual wear, casual type of uniform used by military, police, firefighter, fire and other public uniformed services for everyday fieldwork and combat duty purpo ...

until the mid-1940s and 1950s, when they were deemed impractical. However, in colder countries, such as the former

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, they continue to be issued and used. When more efficient clothing and

synthetic fibre Synthetic fibers or synthetic fibres (in British English; see spelling differences) are fibers made by humans through chemical synthesis, as opposed to natural fibers that are directly derived from living organisms, such as plants (like cotton) ...

s became readily available, the overcoat began to be phased out even there.

Topcoat

Examples of overcoats

Some of the most common historical overcoats, in roughly chronological order.

References

{{Authority control Coats (clothing) History of clothing (Western fashion)