Ladies Coat vs Man Coat

[Thumper]

A friend of mine bought a real nice sack coat to use in a civilian impression and then noticed that it buttoned right over left.

I know that the current fashion trend is for men's garments to button left over right while ladies garments button right over left.

Does anyone know when this became common practice? Would only ladies garments button right over left in period correct CW era garments?

Thanks,

Tom Glaze

[ElizabethClark]

Re: Ladies Coat vs Man Coat

Women's coats and bodices show a great amount of variation in the direction of the closure--this is before a vast amount of industrialization for women's clothing construction, and hence before the need for standardization in the closures to speed up factory construction. In fact, for a left-hip offset dress opening to work as easily as possible, it helps to have the left side over the right.

Your friend might ask the maker regarding this detail--perhaps the coat being copied had this variation?

In general, though, women's things of the period show a range of variation in this aspect; I am unsure regarding tailored men's things for the same period.... I know some standardization was coming into play, though, as men's ready-made clothing became more and more widely available.

[Carolann Schmitt]

Re: Ladies Coat vs Man Coat

Elizabeth is correct in stating the bodices on women's dress could button in either direction (right-over-left or left-over-right). Men's clothing is different. Historically it has always closed left-over-right. There are men's double-breasted garments that have buttons and buttonholes on both sides, which would allow them to be closed in either direction; however faded and worn areas indicate even these garments were closed left over right.

If your friends coat was copied from an original with a right-over-left closure (and the seamstress or tailor should be able to provide that documentation), it really is an aberration and not an example of common construction. If they can't provide that documentation, I suspect its a construction error.