Go
New
Find
Notify
Tools
Reply
  
Rev war regimental coat
 Login/Join
 
Greenhorn
posted
I have seen regimental coats for sale with hooks and eyes to close the upper lapels. Are these correct? I have researched many portraits from the period, and in every case it seems the front of the coat is open, or the facings turned over and buttoned across.


Colonel Christopher
 
Posts: 15 | Location: Ocean City NJ | Registered: 11 March 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Factor
posted Hide Post
Yes hooks and eyes are correct, but the lapels or "facings" should be able to be unbuttoned and buttoned across in the chest area for most regiments. I write "most" for I have read that the Germans from Brunswick had false facings on their coats, and could only close with hooks and eyes. (Cheaper for their Prince to supply) The cuffs should unbutton and roll down too. Toward the end of the war the "coatee" began to appear, which was sort of a hybrid waistcoat/regimental with false cuffs and possibly even false facings did appear for some regiments.

Beware buying a regimental that says "dry clean only" or "made of thinner wool for summer". Unless all you do are parades, a uniform coat gets a lot of punishment. You should be able to soak a regimental in cold water to rinse out the sweat, perhaps with a touch of woolite. The body perspiration will damage the coat over time if not properly cleaned, and "dry clean only" usually means that the wool wasn't pre-washed and pre-shrunk prior to sewing. One doesn't need their coat to shrink up on them after wearing it in the rain. Also due to the wear and tear, "thin wool" usually means "will have holes in it soon" (imho).



LD


It's not what you know, it's what you can prove
 
Posts: 3843 | Location: People's Republic of Maryland | Registered: 10 November 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Booshway
Picture of captchee
posted Hide Post
quote:
Beware buying a regimental that says "dry clean only" or "made of thinner wool for summer".

Some years ago I had a friend of mine who is a tailor , make mine RC .
The wool alone cost as much as most of the pre-made RC on the market .
The other thing is the right color of wool .
I purchased the wool from 96 district . They carried not only the right weight wools and colors taken from surviving pieces.
The front buttons closed and the cuffs fold down . Bottoms fold and hook back .
The weight of the coat is IMO near 2 X that of the advertised RC out there





 
Posts: 687 | Location: Payette ,Idaho | Registered: 23 November 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
  Powered by Social Strata  
 


2014 Historical Enterprises, LLC