Men's Wool Overcoats : Directory and Information Regarding Men's Wool Overcoats presented by Apparel Search

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Welcome to the worlds greatest guide to Men's Wool Overcoats.  Are you actually looking to learn more about men's wool fiber overcoats?  Well, we hope you are because the reality is that you have found our men's style wool overcoat page.  In this area of the Apparel Search directory, you will find all sorts of interesting information regarding wool overcoats for men.

First question is, "what is an overcoat?"  An overcoat is a type of long 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.  Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other animals, including cashmere and mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, angora from rabbits, and other types of wool from camelids.

Their are several different styles of overcoat and many of them are made out of wool. 

The Frock overcoat, a very formal daytime overcoat commonly worn with a frock coat, featuring a waist seam and heavy waist suppression.  Both the top-frock and over-frock coats were woollen, like most male garments of the time, and were made in varying weights, ranging from just 14oz for mild-weather topcoats, to 20 or 30oz for really cold weather. Wool was not a prerequisite, but was the most common material, and came in a range of qualities, the finest being that of a Merino sheep. Any material might be used, at a greater cost, including cashmere (from the Kashmir goat), angora (from the Angora rabbit), alpaca, or huarizo (from a hybrid of alpaca and llama). Evening over-frock coats, worn over Evening dress could be made from Mohair (from the Angora goat), which produced an additional sheen. Evening over-frocks often have silk revers, like the dress coat worn underneath. Both could be lined on the inside with fur of animals ranging from nutria or rabbit to silver fox or Imperial sable, depending on the owner's means.

The Ulster coat, a working daytime overcoat initially with a cape top covering sleeves, but then without; it evolved to the polo coat after losing its cape.  The Ulster was originally a Victorian working daytime overcoat, with a cape and sleeves. It is often seen in period productions of Victorian novels, such as those of Charles Dickens, and was referred to in the Sherlock Holmes stories A Study In Scarlet, The Sign of the Four, "A Scandal in Bohemia", "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" and "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor". Often made of hard-wearing fabrics, such as herringbones or tweeds (which can be made of wool).  A lightweight version of this coat is called an ulsterette.

The Inverness coat, a formal evening or working day overcoat, with winged sleeves.  The Inverness coat is a type of formal overcoat, with long open sleeves.

The Paletot coat, a coat shaped with sidebodies, as a slightly less formal alternative to the frock overcoat.  A paletot is a French topcoat etymologically derived from the Middle English word paltok, meaning a kind of jacket.  It is a semi-fitted to fitted coat with peaked lapels, a flat back and no belt. Its double-breasted 6×2 button arrangement has top buttons placed wider, and they are not buttoned.  A paletot is often made of flannel or tweed in charcoal or navy blue.

The Chesterfield coat, a long overcoat with very little waist suppression; being the equivalent of the 'sack suit' for clothes, it came to be the most important overcoat of the next half-century. The Chesterfield has no horizontal seam or sidebodies, but can still be somewhat shaped using the side seams and darts. It can be single- or double-breasted, and has been popular in a wide variety of fabrics, typically heavier weight tweeds, or charcoal and navy, and even the camel hair classic. It has often been made with a velvet collar.  The Chesterfield is a long, tailored overcoat named after George Stanhope, 6th Earl of Chesterfield, a leader of British fashion in the 1830s and 1840s.

The Covert coat, a classically brown/fawn, straight cut, single breasted country coat that became accepted for wear in the city with a suit as well as with tweed. It has a signature four lines of stitching at the cuffs and hem. It also had a fly front closure and 2 side pockets. The collar is sometimes made of velvet.

The British Warm (sometimes called British Warm Overcoat), a taupe, slightly shaped, double-breasted, greatcoat, made of Melton, a heavy wool fabric, was first designed for British officers during the First World War, but was made famous by Churchill. The civilian variant usually drops the epaulettes.  The British warm first appeared around 1914 as a military greatcoat for British officers. It was made famous, however, by Winston Churchill.  According to Scottish clothmakers, Crombie, the term "British Warm" was coined to describe their version of the coat which was worn by around 10% of British soldiers and officers.

Below are a few different types of overcoats that can be made from wool fabric if the designer chooses to do so.  Historically, they had not necessarily been made of wool.

The Greatcoat, a voluminous overcoat with multiple shoulder capes, prominently featured by European militaries, most notably the former Soviet Union.  A greatcoat, also known as a watchcoat, is a large overcoat that is typically made of wool designed for warmth and protection against the weather. Its collar and cuffs can be turned out to protect the face and hands from cold and rain, and the short cape around the shoulders provides extra warmth and repels rainwater (if made of a waterproof material).

The Redingote (via French from English riding coat), a long fitted coat for men or women. The men's redingote was an 18th-century or early 19th century long coat or greatcoat, derived from the country garment with a wide, flat collar called a frock In French, redingote is the usual term for a fitted frock coat. The form a men's redingote took could be of the tightly fitting frock coat style, or the more voluminous, loose "great coat" style, replete with overlapping capes or collars, such as a "garrick" redingote.

Here are some helpful tips if you are shopping for a wool overcoat:

Worsted is a strong, long-staple, combed wool yarn with a hard surface.

Woolen is a soft, short-staple, carded wool yarn typically used for knitting.

In traditional weaving, woolen weft yarn (for softness and warmth) is frequently combined with a worsted warp yarn for strength on the loom.

Apparel Search is a leading guide to fashion, style, clothing, glam and all things relevant to apparel.  We hope that you find this Men's Wool Overcoats page to be helpful.

What ever type of coat you are wearing is in fashion.

It is always a fabulous day to learn more about men's fashion.  If you are interested, we would suggest that you also visit our men's coat page for some additional reading.

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