Concerning Coats I (1910s)

 Winter has set in, and I need some kind of warm clothing to protect me from the icy winds.  This lead me to investigate how women in earlier eras have kept out the cold.  In various eras women have covered themselves with coats and capes, shawls, ponchos and assorted knitwear, but in the end I decided to look at the history of coats.  I'm starting from the 1910s, a decade of great change, and  I'm going to ignore fur coats, raincoats and jackets in my survey because there would be too many digressions along the way (and besides, they deserve a survey of their own!)

Anyway, let's get going.  1910, and fashions are still very Edwardian with few signs of the changes to come.

Australian Home Journal, June 1910

The correct thing in this season's coats is for the buttons to begin at the waistline or a trifle below it.  This gives long, gently curving lines that are becoming to everyone, and suggests a deep opening, though the chest is not left so exposed as one may suppose.  In many of the coats the opening is really double-breasted, the revers being great shawl-collars, and the right one runs to the waistline or a little below it which gives the long, sweeping line.  Even where the coat is single breasted this lapping is cleverly manipulated and only the usual V of the blouse is exposed and it is filled with a jabot or frill.

 The Australian Home Journal, June 1910

Weldon's Ladies' Journal, August 1911

The fashions of 1911 appear to have narrowed.

A slip on coat, for cool or damp days, is almost a necessity in our variable climate. Light-weight woollens, linen, tussore, or serge may be employed, the square collar and revers facings of satin, silk, etc.

Weldon's Ladies' Journal, August 1911

The new models will appeal to buyers because they are smart in effect and while following the new, straight lines, there are no freak features to make sales difficult.  The collar is a very important feature and sailor or pointed collars and large revers are freely used... Serges, tweeds, homespuns, satins, mohairs, Rajahs and linines are the leading coat fabrics.

"Preparing for Coat Season", Dry Goods Review (Canada), January 1911

National Cloat & Suit Co., Spring-Summer 1912

The double-breasted coats of 1910 seem to have disappeared altogether, as none appear in this catalogue.  Some coats, however, overlap, fastening just above the wearer's left hip.

 

In January The Delineator prophesised:

The longer coats that have been worn have been a pleasant change, but I doubt if they will hold for Spring... For all coats, the big collar and revers remain as popular as ever.  Even the conservative morning hacking suit feels their influence and shows it in a reasonable enlargement of the revers of its notched collar...

"The Silver Lining" by Clara E. Simcox, The Delineator, January 1912

Both longer coats and a reversible coat are shown on this page of the National Cloak and Suit Co.'s catalogue!   

Advertisement, 1913

LONG COATS.  Long coats are most graceful.  They are draped and gathered around the form in classical folds, and it is difficult to define by the mere method of words any accurate idea of their exquisite simplicity and gracefulness... Once you have experienced the convenience and comfort of the roomy long coat you will never want to be without one, for it is the garment, next to your tailored suit, which fills the greatest needs.  

Australian Home Journal, June 1913

 

Home Fashions, June 1914

THE ODD COAT, or the coat that is worn with skirt of a different colour and material, is having a vogue such as it has not known for many years.  The wonder is that it is not always as popular, for it supplies a long-felt want, and its uses are many.

These odd coats can roughly be divided into three different classes—the SPORTS' COAT proper, the WRAP COAT, and another which has evolved from the real sports' coat, and still calls itself by that name, but which partakes a little of the nature of the wrap.  This style is the most popular of all, because having the characteristics mentioned it can be worn on so many different occasions and also because it is made in bright and pretty colours to give relief to dull monotony.

POCKETS are made a feature of the sports' coat, just as though, having been without so long, we are doing our best to make up in number on one single garment.  There are BREAST POCKETS, POCKETS ON THE BROAD BELT, SLIP POCKETS concealed by the belt, and BIG PATCH POCKETS below the belt that ever-present feature of the coat.

Home Fashions, June 1914

La Mode, September 12 1915

 

 

The central figure is wearing "Manteau en drap froncé à la taille sous une ceinture formée de 3 pattes boutonnées" or, to put it in English, a "cloth coat gathered at the waist under a belt formed by 3 buttoned tabs".  By 1915 narrow coats were definitely "out", new, fuller coats were securely belted rather than negligently fastened on one side.  In keeping with the times, this woman's coat has a slightly military air.

 

 

W&H Walker, Bargains for Fall of 1916

The separate coat has followed very naturally in the wake of the popularity of the separate skirt.  The sweater and sports coat fad paved the way for its acceptance among smart women.  The one-piece serge dress will be worn later in the season with a long coat of wool velours, corduroy or broadcloth.  These coats usually hide the entire dress or else are so long that only a few inches of hem appear below them.  They ripple generously either from the shoulders or from a yoke below the waistline.  Big collars are characteristic of the new coats...

"Straight from the Shoulder", The Delineator, October 1916

W. & H. Walker offers inexpensive but fashionable coats in (clockwise from upper left) wool mixed coating with a large "beaver fur cloth collar", all-wool coating in the "new "Broadway Knockabout" style", baby lamb cloth with a shawl collar and velvet trimmed wool mixture with "convenient slot pockets".  The coats are not long by the standards of the beginning of the decade—but then again, neither are the skirts, which are now calf-length! 
 

Eaton's, Fall and Winter 1917

Wide coats are of course much worn, and the belt is an essential ornament.  There are all sorts of belts; some are strips of the same material as the coat, and go all round the waist.  Others are only put on the sides and seem to maintain the fullness of the coat.  The front and back are then flat.  Sometimes the front and back only are crossed by a kind of "martingale" and the sides are "vague".

There are still some pockets, huge ones mostly, which are put for trimming more than for practical use.  With these, of course, every fancy will be nice.

"Letter from our Paris correspondent", Dry Goods Review (Canada), February 1917

Sears, Fall and Winter 1918

Coats show a nice variation in straight loose lines.  There is no curve inward to indicate a waistline, though smart effects are produced in many cases by cutting the waist and skirt portions separately and joining them in novel lines.  There are some belts shown, but these do not draw the coat in.

"Variety the Key-Note in N.Y. Spring Fashions", Dry Goods Review (Canada), January 1918

As usual with the Canadian trade demand is swing strongly towards coats, and it seems as if fewer women are planning to purchase both coat and suit for the cool weather than ever before, due of course to the prices prevailing... As was predicted earlier in the year the highest priced coats and suits will dispose of a good deal of fur.  Huge collars and cuffs are the chief source of consumption.

"Suits and Coats", Dry Goods Review (Canada), September 1918

Skirts are now reaching mid-calf!

Perry, Dame, Fall and Winter 1919

Women have learned the satisfactory ways of separate coats and dresses so thoroughly that even the promised vogue of the tailored suit will not interfere with the popularity of coats and wraps for motoring , traveling and general wear.   Hacking coats will be made of tweeds, checks and mixtures.  For afternoon and general day use the smartest materials will be duvetyn, velours, fur cloth, plush, camel's-hair cloaking, broadcloth and cloaking satin.

"Autumn Fabrics and Fashions", The Delineator, September 1919

And here we are in 1919, looking very different than we did in 1910!