Of everything we make, an overcoat is the thing you will own longest. A suit can be dated by a change in proportion or simply worn out by hard use. A well-cut overcoat in a classic cloth stays right for decades and gets better looking as it goes, because heavy wool and cashmere improve with age instead of falling apart. We cut them in double-face cashmere, in heavyweight melton, and in good English and Italian wool, for our own short cool season and, more often, for customers who travel somewhere a lot colder than Adyar.
The classic cuts and how to pick one
The standard is a single-breasted coat with a notch or peak lapel, finishing below the knee, lightly shaped through the chest and falling straight through the body. It is the most useful of all the coat shapes. It goes over any suit, it is right in every formal and semi-formal situation, and it has never looked wrong in any decade you care to name.
A double-breasted overcoat is the bolder option, with two rows of buttons and wider lapels, usually peaked. It is dressier and a good deal more striking. In a heavyweight charcoal or navy melton it is one of the most impressive garments a man can put on, and you will be aware of that every time you wear it.
The raglan is built differently at the shoulder. The sleeve is cut in one with the shoulder, with no shoulder seam, using a diagonal seam that runs from the armhole up to the collar. It feels more relaxed and reads slightly less formal, and it is very comfortable to sit in, which is why it is the one we recommend for long flights.
The cloth has to have weight
Overcoating needs weight behind it. Too light and the coat loses its shape and stops doing the one job it exists for. The practical minimum is around 400 gsm, and heavyweight melton and double-face cashmere run to 600 or 800 gsm and beyond.
Melton is the traditional English coating. It is heavily fulled, meaning shrunk and compressed, until you can barely see the weave, which leaves it dense, smooth and windproof. It is about the most durable cloth we handle. An overcoat in good English melton is something you hand down rather than throw out.
Cashmere is the indulgent choice, softer than anything else, warmer than wool of the same weight, and with a drape nothing else can copy. A cashmere overcoat in charcoal or camel is one of the finest things in either men's or women's tailoring. It is also expensive and it needs looking after, so ask us how before you order one.