Fashionable Full Length Coats
Whether leather, real fur or faux, cotton, cashmere, wool, silk or denim, the availability of full length coats for men and women is unending. It can be a trench coat, overcoat or topcoat, the wearer decides what he or she wants.
In the seventeenth, eighteenth and through part of the nineteenth century, women wore long dresses. They needed to have a long outer garment in order to protect their clothing from the elements.
In the 1960′s an updated version of this garment was renamed the Maxi and made from real or faux fur. It was created to cover the Maxi dresses and skirts that were also in fashion at that time.
The fabrics that are used can vary widely. Leather is used to make the trench coat or duster. Overcoats and topcoats are the newer full length coat usually made of cashmere and wool blends. The overcoat is worn for warmth the topcoat is also worn for warmth but lighter in weight.
Although it used to be worn for practicality, today it’s a fashion statement. Both men and women are thought to be sharp and cool, if they wear one, and particularly a trench coat.
The French Highwaymen’s coat was their trademark. Highwaymen preyed on rich travelers. Their garb was made from black denim and was constructed for easy movement, with a slit in the back and one on each side, buttons and braid decorated the sleeves.
Full length coats were immortalized in movies and TV by costuming their heroes in full length coats, and Cary Grant always appears to be wearing a black fabric topcoat.