Many claim that the English borrowed the Belgian term to create the duffle coat as we know it today, and while it is correct that the English military and especially Sir Bernard “Monty” Montgomery and Sir David Stirling, founder of the SAS, popularized this garment during WWII, the British origins of this toggle closure overcoat can be traced back to 1887.  

 

At the time, John Partridge, a British purveyor of outerwear, began to design and offer the duffle coat for sale. The look back then was quite different from today, though it already featured the characteristic wooden toggles. The coat was shorter and cut very roomy with a slightly angled toggle front closure, which looks similar to vintage motorcycle jackets.

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A few years later, the Royal British Navy was searching for a hard-wearing, sailor-proof coat, and so the British Admiralty commissioned the duffle coat, which turned out to be a great success and was after that worn on military ships around the world.

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Even though John Partridge designed the British duffle coat, he clearly was inspired by the Polish “frock” coat. It was first introduced around 1820 and gained some popularity in continental Europe in the 1850’s. Just like the modern duffle coat, it was tailored with a hood and a horizontal toggle closure. Of course, back then pockets were not part of a coat and was worn more closely fitted than the bulky cut of the British Navy, but nevertheless, there is a great resemblance. Toggle closures have rarely been used in menswear for the last 200 years.

 

The duffle coat probably reached peak popularity during the 1950’s – 1960’s for several reasons. First of all, Field Marshal Montgomery had helped to create an iconic look during World War II, which is why the duffle is to this day also known as a Monty in the UK. As such, it does not surprise that he was even made into a wax figure –  wearing the Monty coat, of course.

 

Also, Colonel David Sterling liked his coat so much that he even wore it in the desert! After the war, the military released surplus duffle coats to the public, and artists, students, and intellectuals wore them. Jean Cocteau popularized his very own version in white. As a consequence, mothers would dress their children in them, raincoats adapted the duffle cut and the Dutch men’s fashion publication SIR published an article titled “The Monty-Coat Forever”.

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Farid Chenoune, author of the book Men’s Fashion History, claims it was often worn with former naval sweaters, a college scarf, and corduroy trousers, but based on the many pictures available from that period, it was worn with all kinds of garments, suits, and even tuxedos!

 

After the coat had reached the peak of its popularity, it never came close to the same level of success again. You will still see duffle coats on the street today, even though these models are often fashion interpretations of the original, far from the real thing.

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Since the 20th  century, a duffle coat is made of a heavy, coarse woolen fabric. It features a roomy box-cut with a hood, a square shoulder yoke, and large patch pockets with hemp rope and wooden toggle closures.

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As mentioned above, this coat got its name, though indirectly, from the Belgian city of Duffel and the rough and heavy linen and woolen cloth produced there. As a side note, this is also the fabric used for the original duffle bag. Although the coat bears its name, is was never actually used for the duffle coat production. Instead, a similarly heavy 34 oz per yard (1050 grams per meter) of double-faced, boiled woolen cloth with a twill structure (similar to Serge) was used.

 

As of 1900, the British Admiralty demanded that all fabric including the wool had to be British, and so only domestic cloth was used. The original color for military duffle coats was camel beige, but in the early 20th century, khaki and brown versions were used. However, the navy was not used until the thirties.  In the fifties, navy blue and other colors became more popular with the public, and today you can find them in almost any color including red, racing green, olive green, gray, fawn, yellow, white…

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If you look at the picture of Monty, you can see that the coat has a thick nap similar to the Casentino cloth. it's likely this was simply an effect that came with the age of the woolen fabric since new duffle coats did seem to have it.

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In 1950, the Englishman Harold Morris and his wife Freda, who were already in the glove and overall business for blue collar workers, bought some surplus duffle coat fabric from the Navy along with some duffle coats and recreated them for workers.

 

However, when the demand plummeted, they refocused on the consumer market with great success and became well known as the brand Gloverall – an amalgamation of gloves and overall. Instead of the original fabric, they used a 34 oz Tyrolean Loden fabric. Loden is a great fabric for outdoor use because its woven base is felted afterward, providing the cloth with a water repellent finish that is very hard wearing.

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With elevated popularity in the fifties and sixties, different fabrics were used for duffle coats. At that time, synthetic fibers were state of the art and so you’d find Nylon wool and loden blends in addition to more traditional camel hair, tweed, gabardine and even poplin for summer.

 

In the early days of the naval duffle coat, the garment was rather spartan. If you look at the old pictures, you can see how overwhelming these coats were in size. Especially the smaller sailors look a bit lost in such a huge garment. At the time of its introduction, the crew still had to climb rigging, and so they needed to be able to move in their coats, hence the wide cut.

 

However, at the same time, it was difficult to keep the body warm with so many open holes and so some sailors would tie the duffle coat to their body with a rope or add cord to the inside of their hood allowing them to achieve a tight fit around their face.

 

After the Admirals in charge had received some feedback about the coat, some design changes were made. The duffle was cut more narrowly with a straight seam down the front with a generous overlap. Shoulders were reinforced with another layer of cloth and studs were attached to the hood, allowing sailors to better adjust it. Overall, it looked much more like it does today.

 

Regarding coat length, the original duffle coats were rather short, just about as long as a peacoat. During WWII, the length increased to about knee length or above and today you will find most coats to be somewhere in between.

 

The toggles are probably the duffle coat’s most characteristic feature. Originally, hemp cord was used in combination with wooden toggles. Gloverall substituted them with more refined looking horn toggles and leather ties in 1954, and today most toggles are made out of plastic. In the beginning, the Royal Navy seems to have favored three toggles, but later they included a fourth. Purists may want to go with four but at the end of the day, it does not matter.

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Similarly to the trench coat, the duffle coat has a bar underneath the collar, which is closed with two buttons so your neck can be better protected from the elements. The shoulders feature a double layer of cloth which serves to both help repel water better and prevent premature wear of the shoulder areas due to carrying items on one’s shoulder. A duffle coat features two prominent patch pockets on the outside. I have seen some with flaps though the original naval duffle coat is likely the one without flaps.

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The old duffles did not have a lining but in 1954, Gloverall added a checked lining to their coats and lately it seems like some companies even use – charmingly – a Union Jack for a lining. Purists should do it like Monty and skip the lining. Interestingly, the original Monty coat featured thigh straps on the inside of the coat that allowed you to fasten the coat to your legs.

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Traditionally, the duffle coat was worn on top of uniforms and even today, it is worn a bit more roomy than other overcoats. Although it was combined in the fifties with a variety of suits and sport coat outfits, it is decidedly more suited to casual outfits in tweed, thornproof, Saxony, etc., rather than superfine worsteds. Needless to say, never wear it with a tuxedo unless, like Jean Cocteau, you consider this coat to be your universal overcoat.

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Source: gentlemansgazette.com