A justacorps or justaucorps () is a

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

-length

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 ...

worn by men in the latter half of the 17th century and throughout the 18th century. The

garment Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials ...

is of French origin, and was introduced in England as a component of a three-piece ensemble, which also included

breeches Breeches ( ) are an article of clothing covering the body from the waist down, with separate coverings for each human leg, leg, usually stopping just below the knee, though in some cases reaching to the ankles. Formerly a standard item of Weste ...

and a long vest or

waistcoat A waistcoat ( UK and Commonwealth, or ; colloquially called a weskit), or vest ( US and Canada), is a sleeveless upper-body garment. It is usually worn over a dress shirt and necktie and below a coat as a part of most men's formal wear. I ...

. This ensemble served as the prototype of the

frock coat A frock coat is a formal men's coat characterised by a knee-length skirt cut all around the base just above the knee, popular during the Victorian and Edwardian periods (1830s–1910s). It is a fitted, long-sleeved coat with a centre vent at th ...

, which in turn evolved into the modern-day

three-piece suit A suit, lounge suit, or business suit is a set of clothes comprising a suit jacket and trousers of identical textiles worn with a collared dress shirt, necktie, and dress shoes. A skirt suit is similar, but with a matching skirt instead of tr ...

. The fabric selection and styling of the justacorps varied throughout time periods, as fashions frequently altered.

Development

In 1666,

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child of ...

reset men's fashion in England by introducing a new garment, referred to as a vest or

. The vest was knee-length, worn in conjunction with breeches and an overcoat of equal length. The coat became known as the justacorps or

cassock The cassock or soutane is a Christian clerical clothing coat used by the clergy and male religious of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church, in addition to some clergy in certain Protestant denomi ...

due to its similarity to the vestments worn by priests. This outfit is thought to be the prototype of the modern day men's three-piece suit. This outfit seems to have been a plainer "sober" take on the earlier but similarly cut justaucorps, veste and culottes outfit which had been imposed by King Louis XIV in the French court. King Charles gradually became more closely influenced by French fashions by the 1670s, and French fashion spread to the English public. The justaucorps, according to Susan Mokhberi, was modelled on a similar Persian coat, with similar floral embroidery and tight fitting body and sleeves. Like the Persian rulers did with the garment, King Louis XIV bestowed it onto key subjects as an emblem of his favour, and it came to be associated with French absolutism and the links and commonalities between the Safavid and Bourbon absolutist regimes. Exhibit in Craft Museum New Delhi-35

Similar coats known as

achkan Achkan ( ur, اچکن, hi, अचकन) also known as ''Baghal bandi'' is a knee length jacket worn by men in the Indian subcontinent much like the Angarkha. History Achkan evolved from Chapkan, a dress which earlier formed the costume of the ...

s and

sherwani Sherwani is a long-sleeved outer coat worn by men in South Asia. Like the Western frock coat it is fitted, with some waist suppression; it falls to below the knees and is buttoned down the front. It can be collarless, have a shirt-style collar, ...

s had been worn in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

for centuries, and could be either sleeved or sleeveless. These were often worn by wealthy travellers who visited the East during the early 1600s, and some may have been brought back to England. Another garment that came into fashion in Poland and Hungary at the same time was the zupan or

dolman The somewhat vaguely defined term dolman (from Turkish ''dolaman'' "robe" ) can refer to various types of clothing, all of which have sleeves and cover the top part of the body, and sometimes more. Originally, the term ''dolaman'' referred to ...

with its distinctive turn-back cuffs and decorative gold braid. The zupan started out as a long and heavy winter

gown A gown, from the Saxon word, ''gunna'', is a usually loose outer garment from knee-to-full-length worn by men and women in Europe from the Early Middle Ages to the 17th century, and continuing today in certain professions; later, the term ''gown ...

before becoming shorter and more fitted during the 16th century. These Polish garments (kontusz and zupan) were also based on oriental influences, due to the Polish cultural ideology of

Sarmatism Sarmatism (or Sarmatianism; pl, Sarmatyzm; lt, Sarmatizmas) was an ethno-cultural ideology within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was the dominant Baroque culture and ideology of the nobility () that existed in times of the Renai ...

. These Central European and Indian long coats probably influenced the design of the justacorps later favored by

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

of France and King Charles due to their exotic appearance, comfort and practicality. In Scotland there are two similar garments: the "jeistiecor" (a jacket; a waistcoat with sleeves) and the "justicoat" "justiecor" (a sleeved waistcoat)

17th century

Despite the outfit introduced by Charles II in 1666, the justacorps did not establish itself as a popular component of men's dress until around 1680. It replaced the

doublet Doublet is a word derived from the Latin ''duplus'', "twofold, twice as much",