With a rich maritime history, pea coats and duffle coats are a menswear winter essential for sailors and landlubbers alike.
Who is the sexiest fashion icon? Jack Nicholson, Art Garfunkel, Sir Paul Macartney, Field Marshal Montgomery, Dr Who or Paddington Bear? If your lady love attracted by chief petty officers in the Royal Navy and are you yourself drawn to men in buffalo horn toggles? These are some thought provoking questions but you’ll soon see what we’re driving at.
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Nothing is more timeless and warm than classic boiled wool and that standing on the bridge of a frigate or destroyer in the North Atlantic look, keeping your flame-retardant, fade-resistant dignity and your head and hands warm in an integrated hood and deep welt pockets while torpedoes head midships.
Gloverall, the Leicester-based British heritage brand, has been making duffle coats since 1956 after overall wholesalers, Harold and Freda Morris, received a large consignment of surplus military service outerwear and, after they sold out in camping shops, turned them into functional, civilian-friendly fashion statements. You might not know this but toggles are easier for frost-bitten hands to tie in extreme, sub-zero weather on the high seas than fiddly buttons.
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The first modern duffle coat was probably made in England in the 1880s by a John Partridge, a British purveyor of outerwear. Today, duffle coats are made by everyone from Burberry, Brooks Brothers, to Uniqlo, Reisse to United Colours of Benetton. A full shearling lining Yves Salomon will set you back £3,140 (US$3,853) and a re- imagined by coat by Brunello Cucinelli a hefty £4350 (US$5,338).
AndSons offers a sustainable Boardwalk Peacoat with Modal line. The fabric is made from beech tree pulp which contains 50% more absorbent microfibres than cotton and is more sustainable and eco-friendly. The wool is recycled from old woollen garments that are repurposed and spun into new yarn.
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Now a coveted chic outerwear label, Gloverall offers super wax heavy duty cotton, micro fibre and reversible woollen duffle coats as well as coats and jackets in cotton cambric padded out with goose down, luxury fabrics, pure wool Elysian herringbones, Harris tweeds and cashmere mixes. And a lot of appliqué racking. And, of course, the signature rope and jute fastenings make an appearance too.
Premium British fabrics are favoured. Tweeds from Abraham Moon, Fox Brothers and Harris Tweed feature alongside waxed coated cottons by Halley Stevensons and boned cottons by British Millerain. Loverall also manufacturers all-weather raincoats, sport mid-length car coats and quilted rally jackets. Original Montgomery is the oldest surviving company chosen in the early 1890s to make the first duffle coats.
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The Royal Navy phased out the duffle coats in 2016 in favour of synthetic parkas. The Admiralty frowns on their male personnel wearing duffles with puffy skirts and lounge jewellery. On-duty, anyway.
But there’s always the smart and uniformly acceptable unisex peacoat. Which can be worn on all occasions and in all seasons – not just in the theatre of war and for convoy protection. Nothing travels better than a Pijjekker.
The US Navy introduced the peacoat into its uniform in the 1700s and it was quickly adopted by reefers who scrambled up the tall rigging of sailing ships in howling winds and rough seas.
The high collars, double-breasted fastening and mid-length allowed sailors to move comfortably around the boat and over icy, slippery decks as they hung on for grim death and today, every modern iteration contains these core design features.
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Originating from the Dutch or West Frisian word, ‘Pij’ refers to the type of coarse, twilled blue cloth and ‘jekker’ describes a man’s ( originally) short, heavy, coat. A longer cut, thigh-length version – the ‘Bridge Coat’ – was only worn by officers and often had gold buttons.
The earliest known mentions of peacoats appeared in an official uniform manual in 1731. The “pea” probably comes from the initial letter of “pilot”.
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The standard US-Navy issue pea coat used dark blue or black material. The standard fabric was Kersey wood and was later replaced with Melton cloth.
Whether you want to look like Jack and Art in Carnal Knowledge, a lovable little bear, the 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, or just want to keep warm and chic, duffle and pea coats continue to ride on a high tide of popularity.
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