Guard's coat

[Costi]

Gentlemen,

I wonder if we could shed some light on the typical elements of a guard's coat. I would like to understand this garment's subtleties better before commissioning one.

Here is etutee's "brief" description in the "Tails" thread - thank you!:

In so far as the overcoat goes for formal evening wear, in addition to the one above, I would like to present the glorious and ever useful guards coat. Pictured below with full white-tie garb and topper. This is from winter of 34’.



You have seen me mention this coat before quite a few times, in different settings and as I said one of these days I will present some detail on this….well, here it is. This is one coat that is (or was) usually known for defying the clock. In other words, with a derby and worsted suit it went well with business clothes. It went with homburg and strollers for semi-formal day wear and even to a football stadium with a scratch hat, tweed suit or similar. Above all, it certainly went well with white-tie as depicted above.

Young civilian Englishmen envied from a distance the military trimness of the young guard officer in his smart military coat. But not for long. They were quick to imitate the style of it, the general line and appearance of it, minus of course the military accoutrements. The civilian model still retains the straight natural shoulder line, the narrow waistline and the full skirt. Two buttons were placed on the half belt in the back of the military coat, but these have been eliminated in the modern version. The inverted pleat, on the other hand has been retained. The lines of the lapels have been softened for civilian wear, although the original slanting pockets have been kept. The coat is supremely versatile, being correct for almost any occasion. In recent years it has been adopted for formal evening wear.

[...]

The characteristics of the guards coat are, double breasted, cut fairly long, with a half belt back (which maybe hard to see in this illustration) and an inverted pleat in the back. The fullness in the back and the pronounced flare to the skirt are characteristics details of this coat. As they suggested, it can be made in right about any cloth but the best one is a very fine chinchilla. The slanting pockets and turn back cuffs are other details worthy of notice.

To observe this inverted pleat phenomenon and the flare of the skirt along with slant pockets and cuffs at the sleeves… view the Paddock Style coat presented in the overcoat thread. However, note that the paddock model had a rare (two inverted pleats instead of one) back. See link below.

Overcoats and Topcoats Thread

Are there variants or particular details, perhaps more clear pictures of the guard's coat that could be useful to someone comissioning one?

[jpontin]

It pains me to contradict Etutee in anything, but a guards coat is by definition of grey.

The winter coats of the Brigade of Guards are a beautiful dove grey, cut in the manner described below. If a Guards officer--a Guardee--wore a civilian version of the coat (or possibly the coat itself while otherwise in mufti), it would be such a grey.

[HappyStroller]

Before commissioning a Guard's coat, Sir, perhaps you should be aware all those overcoats and topcoats which are supposed to end at half-calf (at least from what I can figure out on page 159 of The Suit) probably looks good without modification on those who look like ideal guards who are 2 metres tall. Otherwise, one needs to be proportionately slimmer if one is much shorter, especially those who are less than 6 feet tall. If the outer coat is too loose or is not waist-fitting, it tends to look too wide. With the length ending at half-calf, there is a danger of invoking the Great Depression look. If you insist, perhaps you should consider ending the coat at the knee.