This article is devoted to a detailed examination of a wear-resistant duffle coat (coat, duffle jacket) or, in the common people, a coat with wooden fasteners. We'll tell you about its history, details, how to wear it, and how to buy the best coat that's right for you.
1. The history of the duffle coat
Just as with the trench coat (a type of raincoat), there are many variations of the duffle coat. Everyone loves this coat, so it is interesting to find out the origin of the clothes and how the characteristic hood and original toggle fasteners (a type of fastener with a loop and an oblong button) came into being. Note that in traditional men's clothing today, only the duffle coat has a hood. Although similar hoods have long been used in men's robes, starting with the customs of Catholic monks. The hooded coat as we know it today dates back to the 19th century.
2. Origin of the name "Duffel"
The most well-established version of the origin of this name indicates its Belgian roots. The Belgian city of Duffel near Antwerp has been known since the fifteenth century for producing fabrics that were sold throughout European countries. The “duffel” fabric was a dark, tough woolen fabric after which the coat was named. Despite the name, the coat was not only never made in Duffel, but it was never made from duffel fabric.
British origins
It is believed that the creators of the duffle coat in its current form borrowed the Belgian name. Although it is common knowledge that this garment became widespread during the Second World War through the efforts of Sir Bernard “Monty” Montgomery and Sir David Stirling, founder of SAS. The first coats with wooden clasps appeared in England no later than 1887. During those years, John Partridge, an English manufacturer of warm clothing, began developing and offering duffle coats for sale. Their appearance was very different from today, but even then the characteristic wooden buttons appeared. The coat was shorter and loose-fitting with a slightly slanted front closure, similar to vintage motorcycle jackets.
After a while, the British naval department began to search for a durable sailor's pea coat, and therefore duffle coats were ordered for the needs of the fleet, which, as it turned out, were a great success and spread to warships throughout all countries.
Polish predecessors
Although John Partridge has developed his own version of the duffle coat, it has the influence of its predecessor, the Polish vest coat. Its first appearance dates back to about 1820, and the coat became quite famous in European countries in the middle of the 19th century. Polish clothing had the same characteristics as the current duffle coat - a hood and fasteners with loops and elongated wooden buttons. Of course, they did not have pockets, and the cut was more tight-fitting than the bulky cut of British jackets, but there is still a certain fit. Clasps with wooden sticks have rarely been used in men's clothing for the past 2 centuries.
3. Rise of popularity
Duffle coat became the most widespread in the 1950s-1960s due to some circumstances. In particular, Field Marshal Montgomery promoted these clothes during the war with the fascist coalition, therefore in Great Britain the duffle coat is still known as "Monty" to this day. Unsurprisingly, he was even depicted as a wax figure - wearing a Monty coat, of course. And the creator of SAS David Sterling liked these clothes so much that he wore them even in the sands of Africa! In the post-war period, surplus duffle coats were sold for the civilian public, and the creative intelligentsia, students began to dress them. Jean Cocteau created his own variation in snow-white colors. As a result, this fashion spread to children's clothing, raincoats copied the style, and the Dutch glamorous magazine SIR published an article with the headline "Duffle coat forever".
Farid Chenoon, author of a publication on the development of fashion trends, recalls that it was often worn with the then naval sweater, academic scarf and corduroy trousers, but based on many images from the period, it can be argued that it was combined with any attire up to tuxedos !
Once reaching a rise in their prevalence, duffle coats could never repeat their achievement. Nowadays, you can also see passers-by dressed in duffle coats, although these are mostly fashionable interpretations, far from the original.
4. Fabric
Original
As already mentioned here, the name of the duffle coat was given by the fabric from which it was originally made. This fabric is associated with the dense and tough materials made in the city of Duffel. Note that Duffel fabric is used for branded sports bags, but despite their name, duffle coats have never been made from this material. Instead, similar heavy double-sided boiled woolen fabrics with a twill texture were used. Since 1900, the Maritime Department has required all materials used to be of British origin, so only domestic fabric was used. The original color for sailor suits was beige, then they began to use protective and coffee colors, but this color was not used in the navy until the thirties. In the fifties, navy blue and other colors gained popularity among the civilian public, and today you can find jackets in almost every shade, including scarlet, orange, dark green, gray, fawn ...
Loden (a type of boiled wool)
In the early 50s, the English entrepreneur Harold Morris and his wife Frida, who were already engaged in the production of gloves and overalls for workers, bought surplus material for duffle coats from the Admiralty along with a small number of finished products and created work clothes on their basis. When workwear ceased to be in demand, they successfully switched to the FMCG market and obtained the rights to the Gloverall trademark (English play on words glove - gloves, overall - general, as well as workwear). Instead of the original fabric, they used a 34 lb. Tyrol Loden fabric. Loden is an excellent fabric for outdoor clothing. Its fabric base with the felt structure acquired after processing makes the fabric waterproof and durable.
Other fabrics
In the wake of increased demand in the 1950s and 1960s, a variety of fabrics were used for duffle coats. At that time, synthetics were considered the latest technology, and therefore you will find products from wool and loden with an addition of nylon in addition to the more familiar woolen, tweed, gabardine fabrics.
5. Details
Cut
In its early days, the naval duffle jacket was quite spartan. If you take a look at the pictures from those years, you can see how loose these suits were in size. Small sailors look like they are drowning in such bulky clothes. At the stage of its introduction, the crew still had to climb the rigging, and therefore they needed to be able to move around in outerwear, hence the spacious cut. The flip side of the coin is that it is difficult to keep warmth of the body in clothes that are blown through, and therefore some sailors attached a duffle coat to their bodies with a rope or added a ribbon to the inside of the hood, achieving a close fit along the contour of the face.
As authorized persons received some feedback on the coat, certain design improvements were made. The duffle coat was cut more narrowly with a straight vertical seam in the front and with significant overlap. The shoulders were reinforced with another layer of fabric, and studs were attached to the hood, allowing sailors to better adjust it. In general, the clothes have become much more similar to today's.
In terms of clothing length, duffle coats were initially quite short, about the same length as a pea jacket. During World War II, suits extended to about the knee or slightly above, and today you will find most coats in intermediate sizes.
Buttonholes and buttons
Brakes are probably the main distinguishing feature of a duffle coat. Originally, the hemp buttonhole was used in combination with oblong wooden buttons. In 1954 Gloverall used sleeker horn cylinders and leather loops instead, and today buttons are most often made of plastic. At first, the navy preferred three toggles, but later switched to four. Purists may require walking with four, but it doesn't matter in the end.
You can often read that oblong buttons are easier to fasten with gloves than round ones. In my experience, it's the other way around, and the oblong buttons are just a distinguishing feature.
Collar strip
Similar to the trench coat, the duffle coat has a strip along the bottom of the collar, which is fastened with two buttons to better protect the neck from bad weather.
Shoulders
The shoulders are stitched with a double layer of fabric, which contributes to both better water repellency and increased wear resistance of the shoulder areas when carrying weights on the shoulder.
Patch pockets
The duffle coat has two protruding patch pockets on the outside. Sometimes they are fitted with valves, although the original naval jackets do not have valves.
Lining
The old duffle coats did not have a lining, but in 1954 Gloverall added a plaid lining to their coats. And lately, some companies even use, probably for charm, the English flag as a lining. Lovers of the classic style should ignore the lining as it was not in Monti. By the way, in a genuine Monty there are hip straps from the inside that allow you to fix the coat on the body.
6. When to wear and what to combine with a duffle coat?
For a long time, a duffle coat was worn over a uniform, and nowadays a duffle coat is more voluminous than other types of outerwear. Although it was paired with a variety of suits and athletic equipment in the fifties, it is clearly more suited to casual wear in tweed, protective fabric, Saxon wool and the like, rather than superfine worsted wool. Obviously, avoid using it with a tuxedo, unless, like Jean Cocteau, this thing is your outerwear for all occasions.
It goes well with jeans, cotton and corduroy pants, and tennis sweaters or other heavy knit clothing. It is better to choose shoes or shoes from shoes than dress shoes, and many people even combine it with sneakers. If you chose a duffle coat in a catchy color, try to tone down the rest of your outfit so that the outfit does not look too colorful. In general, I would recommend it for everyday wear and consider it inappropriate in a business or evening outfit.
7. Where and how to buy a duffle coat?
Millions of duffle coats have been produced during its existence, and there are still many manufacturers who offer duffle coats or special variants. This means there is a wide choice between classic, new and bespoke pieces. In other words, you have a lot to choose from, and in the next section, I'll try to help you find the duffle coat that's right for you.
Used & Vintage Duffle Coats
Real World War II items in perfect condition are hard to find. They appear occasionally on eBay, but shipping from the UK is quite expensive. Of course, you might also be lucky enough to find a great coat at a rare menswear store in London, but that would be the exception to the rule. Fortunately, the wider fit makes online shopping less risky in terms of size. When looking for a product on websites, keep in mind that the smallest size of the manufactured items was size 1, and I saw a person 185 cm in height and weighing 100 kg, who fit this size. So only look for a WWII product if you really want the real thing. Otherwise, it will be too big for you.
New duffle coats
When it comes to new products, you have an almost endless selection of suppliers, but none of them provide the original item. The closest to the so-called Monty in terms of fabric and finishing is offered by Gloverall. The company presents the product as original, but the fact that they use 90% wool with the addition of 10% synthetics proves that it is far from genuine. The fabric is sourced from Italy and does not weigh as much as it used to. The company likes to market its Monty as the "original" duffle coat, even though Gloverall has been around since 1951, long after the navy duffle jacket was invented. However, this particular item comes closest to the original and comes in sizes that fit better than real coats.
Another supplier that claims to make original coats is Original Montgomery. According to their website, they have been making duffle coats for the British Admiralty since the 1890s and still manufacture their signature product in England today. Their brand is cheaper and you get 30% polyester in return. That alone is a reason for me not to buy it, but if you are on a budget this might be fine.
Another manufacturer offers duffle coats from 100% Loden - this is Schneiders Salzburg from Austria. In Europe, they are widely available in dry goods stores. If you live in Germany, you might want to consider the Ladage & Oelke Hamburg offerings, which have been offering this classic in a variety of colors for years.
If you don't care about absolute authenticity, there are a number of manufacturers that offer tailor-made duffle coat designs. These include Harnold Brook, who actually once did business on his own but has recently been taken over by an Italian company. Japanese companies like Headporter Plus offer their own version. The more fashionable house Comme des Garcons currently sells Junya Watanabe sports duffle coats for 1,000 euros. Personally, I would stick with a more classic cut in a bold color like green, red or yellow, but to each his own.
If we talk about where it is easiest and most convenient to buy a duffle coat, then this is certainly the Internet. We recommend a specialized online duffle coat store, where you can choose a coat for any taste and price.
Sewing to order
And last but not least, you can always make a personal order. Any good tailor is able to fulfill an order, but many may not be familiar with the specifics of this suit and may reject the offer due to lack of time to familiarize themselves. Of course, custom-made clothes will be significantly more expensive than a standard duffle coat off the shelf, but you have the opportunity to adjust the item to size and choose the fabric to your liking. Like many things in classic fashion, clothes like a duffle coat can't be cheap if you're going to wear it for years.
