Concerning Coats VI: 1960s

As the weather turns warmer, it's time to take one last look at coats.  This time we've reached the 1960s!  The fitted coats of the 1950s have gone, but straight and flared (sometimes very flared) coats will remain popular throughout the decade.

Somehow, even the most cheaply made coats managed to look stylish.  The "fur" on the coats below was an imitation made of Orlon.

National Bellas Hess, Fall-Winter 1960

A. PILE-LINED MAGIC BLEND
Glamorous hooded coats luxuriously lined with pure white, soft, fur-look Orlon acrylic pile on a cotton back.  Magic blend coating in white-flecked 85% reprocessed wool, 15% nylon.  Sleeves may be pushed up, if you like; frog buttons close front, vertical pockets.

B.  FUR-LOOK ORLON
The luxurious look of fur—deep, deep cloud-soft Orlon acrylic pile woven on a firm cotton backing.  Becoming clutch style is fashioned with rolled collar, turnback cuffs, vertical pockets.  Inside, a luxurious sweep of acetate satin... just like the linings used in expensive fur coats.  French bottom for longer wear.

C.  LUXURY-LINED FLEECE
What a wonderful way to greet the new season... in a dashing coat that flies its own knit scarf, as an "inside story" too: a deep-pile lining of charcoal-white-and-black striped Orlon acrylic pile woven on a firm cotton backing.  Styled with zing in a warm fleece woven of 35% reprocessed wool, 56% reused wool, 5% nylon, 4% other fibers.  Has smart collar, button-and-tab trimmed pockets, sleeves to wear up or down.

Concerning Coats V (1950s)

 The 1950s was a fairly conservative decade, and overcoats, being an expensive wardrobe investment, tended to be fairly conservative too.  Except for a few minor details, such as buttons and trimmings, coat styles mainly stayed unchanged through the decade.

There were three main coat shapes in the 1950s: fitted, flared and straight. 

Wakes, Winter 1950

CORDED BACK "FASHION AWARD" DRESS COAT in pure wool gabardine  A superbly styled dress coat with divinely slender, perfectly balanced lines achieved by expert tailoring and craftmanship.  Double breasted princess front with new high buttoning rolled collar and two bound "button-hole" pockets.

Concerning Coats IV (1940s)

 Last (southern) spring I paused a series of posts I was writing about coats, saying that I'd pick it up once the weather turned cold again.  Well winter has well and truly arrived.  I'm picking up the narrative thread in the 1940s.

With the first half of the decade dominated by war, practicality and economy were the fashionable watchwords.  

Farmers, Autumn-Winter 1940

Four coats and two fashionable ways of wearing them 1940.  On the left, swagger style (in marl coating and boucle wool).  On the right, also in marl and boucle, two belted coats, with necks that could either be worn buttoned up as shown, or open as revers.  "Shoulders are smartly squared... Featuring the new tucked and flared umbrella skirt."

What We Wore in '74: Coats (Myer, Winter? 1974)

 The fashions of the 1970s often inspire mockery (I've made my share of jokes) but these coats are classics. I'd happily wear any of them today.

WOOL WOVEN AND WARM — Lean racy lines, accent on camel.  Trimmed and terrific.  All cut to really swing.

A. Donegal tweed, belted, detailed.  A go-anywhere style in winter's fabulous camel, black brown, green and red. 8 to 16. $60

B. Classic over pants — elegant, comfortable.  Easy-tie belt.  Saddle stitching features.  In camel only. 8 to 18. $60

C. Camel again, flattering double breasted, half-belt back.  Notice the superb cut.  Sizes 8 to 18.  $60.

ALL OURS ALONE BY DOMINEX

Concerning Coats III (1930s)

 In 1930, the questions on every fashion pundit's lips were, "Where was the waistline going to settle?" and, "How far were skirts going to lengthen?"

And the waistline—another very important question!  This is as it has been for the past few seasons, a moveable feast.  Some dresses show the old normal waistline, in others, the waistline is creeping up to above the hips, giving a different proportion to the silhouette.

The only position the waistline has not yet achieved is under the armpits.  But who knows?  This may probably be in fashion next autumn. 

Australian Home Journal, June 1930

 

Weldon's Ladies' Journal, December 1930

In other words, belts were going to be literally, as well as figuratively, tightened during the straitened 1930s.  My sources indicate that tweed was the most popular material for coats, though other fabrics were worn too.

There is a dashing touch about the coats of this year, suggestive of out-door sports more than sober city occupations. Every flapper sports a tweed coat, or its nearest counterpart. Flannel, by the way, can be obtained in attractive designs, and looks very well when smartly tailored. The great advantage,  of course, is that it looks well- and costs less than a good tweed. Particularly smart, for flecked tweed  is a style with narrow belt, deep pockets bound with braid, and a scarf collar that can be worn loose, or caught with a pin.  Another style has full raglan sleeves, with broad, buttoned cuffs, a very full skirt finish, and stitched inverted pleats at the back. 

"Coats are sporting", The Evening News (Rockhampton, Qld.) 8 May, 1930

Chicago Mail Order, Fall and Winter 1931

The Chicago Mail Order catalogue for Fall and Winter 1931 features three of their "Style Queen" coats on the cover.  All are very typical of the early 1930s, being slender and fitted to the wearers' figures, belted at the natural waistline and sporting large fur collars.

From left to right we have: an "All wool crepe bouclé" coat with a "genuine natural cat lynx fur" collar, an "All wool monotone crepe coating" with "two voguish ways of wearing the new two-way collars" in fur-effect fabric, and a coat "of Good Quality All Wool Tricot Broadcloth" with a plastron collar of wolf blended dog fur dyed to resemble red fox.

McCall Style News, November 1932

McCall's describes these street coats as being "long and luxurious", and interest is added to the collar and shoulders with—from left to right—an optional cape, a detachable collarette and a fur cloth collar.

Modes & Travaux, July 1933

A new style of coat was introduced in 1933: the swagger coat.

The new "swagger" coat needs no introduction... There will be many of these swagger suits worn.  

"Spring Shows Its Influence", Everylady's Journal, August 1933

Coats, even the full length ones, fall from the shoulders, and every designer in Paris shows some version of the three-quarter, bell-shaped coat, hanging coolly, even if it is not so full in the back, while quantities of box jackets are shown everywhere.  There is another type of coat that looks new this season.  It just meets up the front, instead of overlapping, is frequently buttoned from the top nearly to the knee, and in walking opens below to show the frock.

"Fashion Gossip from Continental Centres", Everylady's Journal, June 1933

Examples of both kinds of coats are shown in the illustration above.  The "swagger" or bell-shaped, falling straight from the shoulders, would be a fashion staple for many years to come!

Petit Echo de la Mode, October 8 1934

1934 sees the same mixture of full (but not full length) coats and more fitted coats reaching to the hem of the wearer's dress.  All these examples from Le Petit Echo de la Mode are embellished with fur collars and cuffs.  

The fashion icon of the day was Marina, Duchess of Kent, and we are told that "Marina blues and greens are all the rage" and

When, however, winter finally comes, coats will be worn that have a still fuller line at the back, and will be often of materials with quilted effects, though corded materials will also be used. Big checks are featured in dull colors and pastel shades which are "delicate without being wishy-washy."

"New Fabric Trends", The Australian Women's Weekly, 9 March 1935

Singer Easy-to-Make Wardrobe, Fall-Winter 1935

In this pamphlet, Singer encourages women to take up sewing by selecting a few paper patterns to make up a complete wardrobe, and comparing the cost of making each garment to the price of buying ready-to-wear.  For a coat, Singer chose Pictorial Pattern No. 7927, a swagger coat, and had it made up in "luxuriously soft Kapco all-wool tweed".  The estimated price: $6.96, as opposed to an approximate ready-made price between $25.00 and $29.75.

National Bellas Hess, Midsummer Sale 1936

National Bellas Hess describes these coats as "popular swing-back coats" and they were available in various mixtures of wool and rayon, plain or in a fashionable plaid check.  

National Bellas Hess, Fall-Winter 1937

 All the coats in this catalogue from 1937 have raised sleeve heads (looking almost like leg o' mutton sleeves in some cases), extended shoulders and elaborate collars (some made of fur).  Belts seem to have come back into fashion, though they are wider than the belts fashionable earlier in the decade.

National Bellas Hess captioned the first coat "Stand up and Cheer" and the second "The Sweeping Beauty".  A particular selling point seemed to be their flared skirts, and the "swagger" appears to be temporarily in abeyance.

Weldon's Ladies' Journal, November 1938

Weldon's offers its readers two free patterns for a "Town Coat With Dolman Sleeve" (left) and a "Smart Fur-Trimmed Winter Coat" (right).  "48-inch fur cloth" is suggested for making up the warm and fuzzy looking coat on the left. 

Though Weldon's features two slender-line coats on the cover of its "Portfolio of Fashion", there are still plenty of patterns for wider, swagger coats, inside.

Petit Echo de la Mode, October 1 1939

These coats featured in Le Petit Echo de la Mode have a definite (and literal) flair.  All the fashion indicators in 1939 pointed towards narrowing waists and broadening skirts.

One look at these new coats will give you their idea; they are shorter than ever and definitely racy.

Most of the coats are quietly and plainly fitted from the waist up; all of them, like everything else this year, are full skirted.

Newest shape is the coachman's coat, a tight-waisted coat cut with a bunch of fullness at the back.  And you can't miss the checks; they are as bold and colorful as the parrots at the zoo, done in vivid greens, purples, reds and yellows.

"The New Coats", Australian Women's Weekly, 22 April 1939

However the coming war would put these trends on hold with rationing and shortages—but that's another story.  And as spring is around the corner in Australia, I might put this series on hold until the weather turns cold again.

Concerning Coats II (1920s)

The 1920s begin where the 1910s left off: with coats being worn loose and enveloping, with belts, large pockets and lots of trimmings.

Perry-Dame, Fall and Winter 1920

6C2350—There are few fabrics that are better fitted for a general utility coat than WOOL-MIXED VELOUR—the material used for making this smart top coat.  This coating is warm, moderately priced and durable.  The coat is made with a handsome collar of soft, silky, Kit Coney fur.  The back, below the all round belt, displays two deep side plaits trimmed with buttons.  Buttons also trim the novel shaped pockets as well as the cuff effects.

6CC3675—SILK SEAL PLUSH in all its loveliness fashions itself with grace and simplicity into this luxuriously warm winter Coat.  This fabric is manufactured by the world-famous Salt's Company, which guarantees matchless beauty and lasting service in a Silk Plush.  The coat is designed with a convertible collar and button-trimmed cuffs of self-material.  There are two slot pockets.  The belt can be worn half inside or all around outside as desired.

6C1865—That a coat does not always need to be expensive in order to be smart in style and durable is demonstrated by the practical model above.  It is made of one of the most practical and satisfactory coatings—ALL-WOOL VELOUR.  The coat is designed on smart new lines and made with a large, stitched, convertible collar.  The back has rows of pin-cording and button-trimming, as pictured.  The cuff-effects and large patch pockets are also button-trimmed.  A belt defines the waistline and fastens in front to the pockets.

Large, cape-like collars seem to have been in vogue in 1920, and still in evidence in 1921.

National Cloak & Suit Co., Spring-Summer 1921

The separate coat favors loose, straight lines with a preference for raglan or kimona sleeves.  Belts are used on the blouse backed models, but models fitted at the waistline show darts and no belt.

"Paragraphs from Paris", Dry Goods Review (Canada), January 1921

Montgomery Ward, Fall-Winter 1922

The prophecy that this winter would see more cloth coats than formerly has come true, judging from the variety and quality now ready. Many women want something a little different from the Hudson seal and cannot afford more expensive furs. They will welcome, without doubt, the cloth ones.

"In Step With New York and Paris", Dry Goods Review (Canada), June 1922

Miroir des Modes, December 1923

This coat was also depicted in the December 1923 issue of The Delineator, where it is described:

For wear about town, the motor or hacking this top-coat with its straight lines and becoming collar is very smart.  Plaid coatings are used a great deal this season, although one may use Teddy bear, camel's-hair, tweeds, basket-weaves, fleeces, mixtures or soft pile fabrics ... for this coat.

The Delineator, December 1923

This coat follows the fashionable silhouette for 1923, with straight lines and a dropped waist (indicated by a single fastening on the wearer's left hip).

Le Petit Echo de la Mode, Dec. 7, 1924

E 123103.  MANTEAU en serge mouflonne, forme nouvelle à manches montées, avec col et parements de renard.
[E 123103.  COAT in mouflon serge, new shape with mounted sleeves, with fox collar and facings.]

E 123104.  MANTEAU en velours de laine, orné de loutre au col droit, aux poignets larges et au bas du manteau.
[E 123104.  Wool velvet COAT, with otter decorating the straight collar, wide cuffs and bottom of the coat.]

The lines for 1924 and 1925 are still straight and unbelted, with one (or at most, two) fastenings around hip level.

Charles Williams Stores, Fall and Winter 1925

With many weeks of cold, bleak weather ahead, we shall be wearing warm coats and costumes, and the girl who does most of her own dressmaking will be sure of having plenty of opportunities for wearing it, if she makes one of the smart wrap-over, straight-up and down, velour or tweed coats, trimmed at neck, cuffs and hem with a band of fur or the popular teazle wool trimming...

To be quite smart and up-to-date, this coat must be as short as the dress worn underneath, which of course is about twelve inches off the ground, and must show only one button as a fastening.

"Modes of the Moment", Everylady's Journal, July 1925

Weldon's Ladies' Journal, March 1926

74431—A smartly cut Coat for fawn marocain, with roll collar and cuffs of leaf brown.

74428—Face cloth makes this stylish Coat, with flared godets and stand-up collar, trimmed with vermicelli braid.

74429—A new season's Coat and Skirt for reps, with flared godets and rolled collar.  

74430—Made on the newest lines is this Coat for black marocain, trimmed with soutache. 

Stylish coats in 1926 feature flared skirts.

Weldon's Ladies' Journal, August 1927

Any hint of a flare has gone by 1927.  These coats are straight and short, with hems just skimming the knee.  Hemlines would remain at knee-length for the rest of the decade.

77398.  This Coat of hopsack with collar and cuffs of calfskin is made on straight lines.  The belt is cut in one piece with the patch pockets.

77399.  For charmelaine, fancy silk or suiting is this Coat.  The welted pockets are on the sland and the stand-up collar is topped with fur.

77400.  A useful holiday Coat made of light-weight tweed, trimmed with buttons and has pockets at the top of the wide box pleats at each side.

Pictorial Review, November 1928

While some of the leading couturiers occasionally display coats with circular capes and lines flaring slightly from the waist, it is evident that the slim, simple type is most favored for general wear.  

Pictorial Review, November 1929

The November issue of the Pictorial Review illustrates two early versions of the clutch coat—that is, a coat that is held closed by the wearer.  They gained status by being obviously impractical for any woman who needed her hands free.  One can imagine the wearers of these coats climbing into a limousine, but not onto a bus or tram!  Both these patterns were designed by Paris couturiers, whose clientele wouldn't have to worry about the practicalities of getting around or carrying their own shopping.

Coming Fashions, March 1929

And so we come to the end of the 1920s with a carefully matched ensemble:

Frequently the top coat that is slightly princess in effect has a matching skirt or frock of a lighter weight fabric.  A cashmere frock will accompany a llama coat of the exact beige shade, there will not be a shade variation between the blues or the brick reds of the two weaves.  When we match our coats and frocks this season we do it very carefully.

"The Three-Quarter Coat and the Jacket", McCall's, August 1929

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!

Coats (Montgomery Ward, Fall-Winter 1929-30)

 The weather has turned cold.  Happily for me, I have pages of toasty-warm coats from the Montgomery Ward catalog of Winter 1929-30 to feast my eyes on.  And my how very stereotypically 1920s they are!

They're also remarkably similar to each other in design.  Each coat is knee-length, fastens on one side at around hip-level, and has a fur (shawl) collar and cuffs.  (The exception to this is the coat worn by the model near the bottom right: she's dressed in sporty "American Wombat", i.e. sheared lamb!)

The main difference between these coats are the materials they are made of, with the main choices being between All Wool Broadcloth and All Wool Velour.  The furs include Manchurian wolf dog (probably neither wolf nor Manchurian) and dyed coney (i.e. rabbit).  Most of the furs on offer, however, are "Mandel furs"—in other words, sheep skins treated to look like more expensive pelts!

200 Years Ago (Ackermann's Repository, March 1823)

 

Our model from March 1823 is warmly dressed in 

A deep amethyst-colour pelisse... wadded, and lined with pink sarsnet; a little wrapt, and fastened down the front with hooks and eyes...

It was trimmed with velvet.  

A pelisse was a front-fastening, full length coat with sleeves.  As an outdoor garment its main competition was the shawl:

Our fair pedestrians now rarely envelop themselves at once in a shawl and pelisse, though the latter have lost nothing of their attraction; but they present no peculiar novelty at present.  Shawls are confined entirely to high dresses: the Angola shawls begin to decline; but those of India are as fashionable as ever.  Promenade gowns are still principally of tabinet or silk: black is much worn in the latter.

So popular were Indian shawls that an entire industry developed around making cheaper imitations.  The most notable of these were the paisley shawls manufactured in Paisley near Glasgow.   Alas for Paisley, the industry collapsed when shawls fell out of fashion in the late 1860s, though the word "paisley" is still used to describe the kind of patterns that were woven into these shawls!

"The Sports Coat is Short and Swagger" (McCall Style News, November 1932)

 

 

 

Inside this little brochure this ensemble is described as : "Ladies' and Misses' Ensemble; coat in three-quarter length... four piece skirt".  It is portrayed on the cover in some kind of tweedy check with contrasting patterned collar and cuffs.  The dress buttons on one side and has a low hip yoke: the coat has patch pockets (trimmed in the same material as the cuffs and collar on the dress). 

100 Years Ago (The Delineator, September 1922)

 I've no idea what the weather was like in the late summer of 1922, but in its September issue The Delineator was encouraging women to look ahead to colder weather with these patterns for coats.  You'll notice that they all have large collars, and all wrap around the wearer and fasten on her left hand side.

As usual, working from left to right:

Autumn styles see the initiation of the draped costume coat in the new silks and amply trimmed with fur or fur cloth collars.  The soft lines of this coat owe their origin to the drape at the front and the graceful sash does double duty in marking the draped tendency in the front and creating a slight blouse or drapery at the back of the coat.

The interlaced stuffed tubings are the latest French word in collars to trim a coat of this type.  It has the new silhouette—wide through the body from a straight shoulder to the hip, straight at the lower part.  The back is plain and the front has a raglan cut which contributes a voluminous, almost blouse-effect to the upper part.  The lower part is quite straight, narrow in effect but wide enough to be comfortable for walking.  The coat may have a plain collar and cuffs or they may be embroidered.  

One could indefinitely sing the praises of the wrap with a wide armhole which gives the new wide easy look to the body of a coat and which does not crush one's fragile frocks beneath.  The deep square armhole is new and gives the roomy loose effect to this coat; otherwise the lines are quite straight.  The snugly fit collar is warm and the half-cuffs are very smart.  An ornamental pair of buttons closes the coat.

"Promenade d'Automne" (Le Petit Echo de la Mode, October 7 1917)

 By October 1917, World War I had ground on for over three years.  Though today we think of the War as it affected the men in the trenches, it also had profound effects on the civilian population.  In particular it lead to harsh shortages on the home front as men were called away to fight and resources were diverted from civilian use into the military.

The coats depicted below show how wartime conditions affected fashion.  They are warm (essential in a time of fuel shortages) and practical (well off the ground and with big pockets!) and are noticeably plainer than they would have been before the War.

1.  Heavy jersey coat, straight fit, with corner closed by a buckle covered with the same fabric.

2. Tailored suit in wool velvet.  Long, straight frock coat, with two large pleats behind and in front passing over a buttoned belt.

3. Duvetine coat, straight and solid shape, with a high belt decorated with buttons.

4. Coat for girls in terry fabric, straight shape with a buttoned belt.  Scarf shaped collar, draped, closed  with a button.

Scarlet Women (Vanity Fair, 1955)

 Is there any colour more eye-catching than red?  Vanity Fair didn't seem to think so in 1955.

January 1955

In January, Vanity Fair featured this blazer in "Guardsman red" in its "Best Buys" section. 

February 1955

February's cover girl looks warm in "the new narrow shouldered look, the high-set sleeve... and the new shorter-than-long length" featured in the latest Paris collections.

March 1955

The March issue features a model wearing a spring suit in coral tweed—manufactured by Handmacher.

April 1955

The April issue features this dress "vibrating with colour"among a selection of "New Season's" dresses "to Dance in".  It's in organdy and built over its own petticoat, with a stole to match.

June 1955

Our cover girl for June heads off on her boating holiday wearing a "fleecy wool resort coat" by Rensor.

October 1955

To finish with: "A Blaze of Colour... a delight to dance in, made in crackle-crisp taffeta from an original Dior design".

Walter Field Co. Catalog (Fall-Winter 1944-45)

I've tried, but  I haven't been able to find any background information on "Walter Field Co." in Chicago.  The firm seems to have issued catalogues between the 1920s and the 1950s.  Judging by the prominent display of the words "Bargains" and "We Pay Postage" on each cover, I'd say Walter Field  specialised in selling inexpensive clothing by mail.  I browsed through some "big book" catalogues of the same era, and decided that the clothes in this little book were roughly comparable in price to the cheaper garments offered by its bigger rivals.

Here we have a couple of budget versions of fashionable wartime styles.  The coat on the left is made of a mixture of wool and rayon, and has a collar made of dyed rabbit fur.  The suit on the left is made of cotton fleece and rayon, and is unlined.  It was probably washable (unlike more expensive suits made of wool which would have to be drycleaned).  Hopefully it would not become too crumpled or shrink when washed!

"Lady's Winter Coat" (Australian Home Journal, May 1920)

 While people in the Northern Hemisphere are looking forward to summer, here in the south we're facing shorter days and colder nights.  It's time to start hunting for winter coats—like this one which appeared on the cover of Australian Home Journal in May 1920.

"Over the choice of some new clothes we may be inclined to hesitate, but with the top coat for winter, it is different.  We know we cannot do without it, and therefore do not hesitate in choosing the latest style, with the new folded collar, as illustrated on this page.

"This is one of the newest and smartest of designs.

"Our small illustration shows how the coat appears with the collars and revers thrown back."

Coats and Suits From Weldon's Ladies' Journal (December 1924)

 A cold snap has descending on my neighbourhood, making everybody shiver.  When that happens my thoughts turn naturally to warm clothes.  Luckily Weldon's Ladies Journal had matters in hand in 1924.

Weldon's describes these fashions as being "long", "straight" and "tube like".  Pattern 72071 (second from left) has a fashionably "curved, fur-trimmed hem".  Next to it no. 72072 is a coat "designed for velours finished with astrachan".  (Weldon's offered a transfer for the embroidery on its side-opening.)  At right is a coat and skirt "with an uneven hem and bold embroidery" to be made up in either velours or cloth. 

No. 72074 (on the left) is "suited for the fuller figure" while keeping a stylishly straight outline.  Next to it is "a smart street suit".  Weldon's suggests it be made up in "dead leaf or russet brown" colours.  Beside it are two coats made up in the "cross-over line"—so very fashionable in the 1924 season!

Coats From Around the World in 1949

If I had to use one word to describe the coats of 1949, that word would be "big".  Whether they swung out from the shoulders or were nipped in at the waist, they were generous in both cut and use of material.  In practical terms this was sensible: there had been some exceptionally cold winters in the 1940s and one would need to make room for one's fashionable New Look clothes underneath one's new coat.  However, I suspect that these coats, with their big collars and cuffs, were also a reaction against the skimpy, rationed garments of the war and immediate postwar years.

Here are four examples, taken from four different countries.

Weldons Catalogue, Autumn-Winter 1949

From Great Britain: Weldons Bargain Pattern:

"Here we think, is a Bargain Pattern that's starred for success.  As smart and practical as a Coat can possibly be; a joy to look at, a joy to wear, and a grand ally when winter winds blow.  There's fashion news in that high, important collar, those wide coachman cuffs—did you realise cuffs were back?—and the big square pockets with their velvet trimmed flaps.  All the velvet trimming, by the way, is optional.  But please do have it; it adds such a lot of luxury!  Colours?  Why, be as bright as the girl on our cover, with black for your contrast; or choose on of the subtle new tone-harmonies such as olive green with bronze."

Butterick Fashion News, October 1949

From America: Butterick pattern 5032:

"That classic favorite... the polo coat has a smartness all its own.  You'll love the details on this new 1949 version... the casual collar, the full boxy lines held taut at the waist by a self belt."

Myer catalogue, Autumn-Winter 1949

From Australia: two coats "American style".  On the left:

"A Flare for Fashion, swirling panel gored, pleated back, two-way collar, set in sleeves, moulded shoulders. Satin twill lined."

On the right:

"Exhilierating Swing Back Regency Dandy caped collar, adjustable sleeve-length cuffs, Moulded shoulders, flaring four-gored back, satin twill lined."

Schöne die Wienerin, No. 22 (1949)

From Austria:

"Sportlicher Herbstmantel aus großkarlertem Wollstoff, in welt ausfallender, einreihiger Hängermachart."

["Sporty autumn coat made of large-scale woollen fabric in a world class, single-breasted hanging style."]