For other meanings than clothing, see Coat (Disambiguation)

A coat (a term frequently interchangeable with jacket) is an outer garment worn by both men and women, for warmth or fashion. Coats typically have long sleeves and open down the front, closing by means of buttons, zippers, hook-and-loop fasteners, toggles, a belt, or a combination of these.

The term jacket is reserved for a hip-length or shorter garment, while coat can be used for a garment of any length.

History of the coat

Coat is one of the basic clothing category words in English, attested as far back as the early middle ages. (See also Clothing terminology.)

An early use of coat in English is coat of mail, a tunic-like garment of metal rings, usually knee- or mid-calf length.

The medieval and renaissance coat (generally spelled cote by costume historians) is a midlength, sleeved men's outer garment, fitted to the waist and buttoned up the front, with a full skirt - in its essentials, not unlike the modern coat.

By the eighteenth century, coats had begun to supplant capes and cloaks as outer wear, and by the twentieth century the term jacket became interchangeable with coat for short garments.

Types of coats

Coats of the 18th and 19th centuries

Some of these styles are still worn.

• Basque, a tightly fitted, kneelength women's jacket of the 1870s
• Duster, a long coat of light-colored material worn by cattlemen and early automobile travelers to protect clothing from dust and dirt
  • Frock coat, a kneelength men's coat of the nineteenth century
  • Garibaldi jacket, a short, red women's jacket with military trim of the 1860s
  • Greatcoat, a voluminous overcoat with multiple shoulder capes worn by coachmen and the like
  • Morning coat or cutaway, a dress coat still worn as formal wear
  • Norfolk jacket, a sturdy wool jacket with a belt and box pleats front and back for hunting, fishing, and other outdoor sports
  • Redingote (via French from English riding coat), a long fitted coat for men or women
  • Smoking jacket, a men's informal jacket of luxurious fabric
  • Spencer, a waistlength, frequently doublebreasted, men's jacket of the 1790s, adopted as a women's fashion from the early nineteenth century
  • Tailcoat, a late eighteenth century men's coat preserved in today's white tie and tails

  Modern coats and jackets

  • Anorak (in the United Kingdom) or parka (in the United States), a hooded jacket for very cold climates
  • Blazer, a nautically-inspired jacket for men or women
  • Bolero, a very short jacket, originally worn by matadors
  • Car coat, a hooded hip-length casual jacket inspired by the parka, popular in the 1960s
  • Chesterfield, a long, tailored overcoat of herringbone tweed, often with a velvet collar, worn over a suit or dress
  • Dinner jacket or Tuxedo jacket, a men's coat for formal social occasions, usually of plain black fabric with grosgrain lapels
  • Down coat, a warm coat insulated with goose down
  • Duffle Coat or duffel coat, a warm coat made of thick wool; usually having a hood and fastening with toggles
  • Eisenhower jacket, a waist-length, fitted, military-inspired jacket with a waistband based on the World War II Army "Wool Field Jacket, M-1944" introduced by General Dwight Eisenhower
  • Field Jacket, a jacket that is worn by soldiers on the battlefield or doing duties in cold weather. The field jacket came about during World War 2 with the US Army introducing the M-1941 and the M-1943 field jacket and issued the jacket to their troops. The most well-known and the most popular type of military field jacket that is on the market today is the M-1965 or M-65 field jacket which came into US military service in 1965.
  • Hacking jacket, a tailored wool sports coat for informal horseback riding, often of tweed and with side vents
  • Jeans jacket or denim jacket, a jacket falling slightly below the waist, usually of denim, with buttoned band cuffs like a shirt and a waistband that can be adjusted by means of buttons. Also called Levi's jacket (see Levi's)
  • Lab coat, a knee-length simple coat, almost always white, worn by scientists, students and researchers in laboratories
  • Medical coat, similar to lab coat, worn by physicians (also termed white coat)
  • Mess jacket, a waist-length formal coat worn with some full-dress military uniforms
  • Motorcycle jacket, a leather jacket, usually black, worn by motorcycle riders
  • Opera coat, an ankle- or floor-length women's coat of luxurious fabric (often velvet), to be worn over an evening gown
  • Overcoat, a long, tailored coat worn over a suit or dress
  • Pea coat or P coat, a heavy wool double-breasted hip-length jacket worn by sailors, or a coat styled like this
  • Raincoat, a water-resistant or water proof coat
  • Shooting jacket, a sportcoat with a leather patch on the front shoulder to prevent wear from the butt of a shotgun or rifle, frequently with matching leather patches on the elbows
  • Sportcoat, also a tailored garment, similar in cut to a suit coat, but less restrictive, originally of a sturdy fabric for hunting and other outdoor sports
  • Suit coat, the jacket portion of a men's tailored business suit or lounge suit
  • Topcoat, a medium-length tailored coat, shorter than an overcoat, worn over a suit or dress
  • Trench coat, a military coat developed by Burberry, or any coat styled like this
  • Walking coat, a women's tailored coat of about knee-length, generally to be worn over trousers
  • 7/8 coat, a women's dress coat several inches shorter than the currently fashionable skirt length

  References

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  Oxford English Dictionary

  Picken, Mary Brooks: The Fashion Dictionary, Funk and Wagnalls, 1957. (1973 edition ISBN 0308100522)

  External references

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  Stylopedia -- an online dictionary of fashion details

  Cloak, Coat and Jacket - Terms and Fashion History

  Jackets | Tops | Suits (clothing) | History of clothing (Europe) | History of clothing (Western fashion)

  Mantel (Kleidung) | Manteau (vêtement) | コート | Jacka | jas