WINTER'S TOP TOPCOAT

As with many of Britain’s finest garments, the Chesterfield overcoat was designed by an aristocrat, the Earl of Chesterfield, around the mid-nineteenth century, and it remains the top winter’s coat for the man who wants to be elegantly warm.

One of the dandies of his day, Lord Chesterfield was in the smart set that included Lord Byron, the Marquis of Londonderry, Count D’Orsay and Lord Lichfield, all noted lads about town. They were instrumental in changing menswear at the time from the flamboyance of the Regency era into the more practical reticence of the Victorians.

Chesterfield’s coat caught attention at the time for having no waist seam, having a fly-front and set-in sleeves.  Initially, it was very long, reaching to the ankles  It was in effect the first proper topcoat, made to be worn outdoors rather than in, unlike the Frock Coat or the Formal Morning Coat, which did not go over a suit jacket and so therefore could not be taken off without leaving the wearer looking ‘undressed’.  Great coats were for heavy outdoor duty.

It has evolved into the classic winter’s coat for all occasions, single or double breasted, fly fronted or not, short or long.  It does not have to have a velvet collar as some claim – that was added by British nobility during the French Revolution as a mark of mourning for their aristocratic cousins being decapitated across the Channel by Madame Guillotine.

Chesterfield also designed the Chesterfield sofa, which by the 1870s was being featured in furniture catalogues, the button-back style still popular today.

Tailored in a variety of cloths, it is the coat for all town occasions,as shown at top. From left, classic chesterfields by Scabal and, centre, Henry Poole, with Timothy Everest giving a flash of contrast in the light undercollar in the coat on the right.