“You cannot stain a black coat,” said Charles Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby, apparently never having negotiated a bustling pub in one during party season. Black tends to be a go-to for a solid overcoat – and there’s something very elegant about it – but it can risk looking somewhat funereal in the depths of winter. Churchill was synonymous with such an item; a handsome version with a tufted collar, topped off with his signature Homburg, helped cement his image as wartime leader. Yours just needs to get you through winter.
Not that all of us need to evoke the air of a statesman. This photograph of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore (as Pete and Dud), taken on the streets of 1970s New York, is just as memorable: one in a baggy overcoat with rounded collars, the other in heavy duty leather (and check out those flares).
The overcoat as a sartorial species has become increasingly rare, thanks to climate change and the fact that its shelf life is getting shorter and shorter every year. But that doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be celebrated: there’s a sense of reassurance to its first outing in cold weather and a feeling of security and protectiveness to its heft. Done right, a winter coat adds form
and silhouette, without swamping or swaddling, and sits as fluidly over a suit as it does a chunky knit.
Fabric, of course, is key, so opt for British staples like wools and tweeds. A heritage motif can be more impactful than standard blacks and greys – a Prince of Wales check, houndstooth or herringbone. King Charles has had the same coat in the latter for 30 years, courtesy of Anderson & Sheppard, worn on frosty walks to church at Sandringham on Christmas morning.
Keep shape in mind – make sure yours is properly structured, with sculptural shoulders and vents. And if you’re wedded to that stately black version? Be careful to keep it as pristine as can be – black can look shabby very quickly as it fades or stains, despite what Dickens’ plucky character might say.
