History of Women's Coats

Coats is one category of outerwear garment that is mostly made out of wool and worn outdoors, has sleeves and is usually longer than a typical jacket. Coats have been considered one of the oldest piece of garment that has been around for decades, starting in the early Middle Ages. The first type of coats for women in the 18th and 19th century consisted of a basque, spencer, and redingote. However, as the world evolved, so did a fashion that also included women’s coats. We start seeing the development of coats in the 1920s with trench style wool coats that were highly inspired by the coats that the British and French soldiers wore in WWI; There was also a variation of cocoon coats that were lighter than the regular and were styled with a fabric belt around the waist. In the later ’20s, we see capes become popular among fashionable and wealthy women. Furthermore, for those who were able to afford it, real and fake fur coats were highly worn for both warmth and fashion during the winter in this period. Other popular coats during this period were the duster coats that were meant to be worn to protect their clothing from trail dust. The fitting, colors, patterns, and styles also change throughout the years.