Frock coats

[bobalooba]

The sheep dog is "Martha", Paul's dog and inspiration for the White Album song "Martha my Dear".

She died in 1980, a ripe old age of about 14 as I recall.

Can't say what happened to their stash of LSD.....

I would assume their LSD was all used up many times over. At least that's what sgt. Pepper told me.

 

[Mysterious Mose]

This is really neat. Where did you find it?

Pretty sure it's from Croonberg's "Blue book of men's tailoring".

 

[STW]

Despite the often quoted military early 19th C. origin of the frock coat, it's better to see it as a continuation of the 18th C. frock that emerged in men's clothing by the end of the 17th C. Wikipedia's page on the frock coat is ok but contains the nonsensical and inaccurate claim that the frock coat and the men's frock (coat) that preceeded it are unrelated.
Typical cutaway frock (coat) c.1780
http://www.museumofcostume.co.uk/collections/collection_search/DressDetails.aspx?objectID=batmc_ii_24_3
http://www.museumofcostume.co.uk/collections/collection_search/DressDetails.aspx?objectID=batmc_ii_06_49
You can see a beautiful non-cutaway frock(coat) example in perfect condition from about 1710 in the costume museum in Bath. (In their collection but not on their site.) This one is full all the way around the knees and buttons high to the neck but with lapels. But within a short time, there were cut-away versions for when the coat hanging on the knees felt in the way. Before the growing severity of Victorian black men's coats, these were all colors throughout the 18th C. depending on purpose and style. Fashion manipulated details of the coat, but also focused on the waistcoat worn under it. Sometimes a full length waistcoat (vest) as long and as latidudinal as the coat, sometimes short like current waistcoats, sometimes long and cutway, sometimes in the same fabric and style as the coat, sometimes contrasting. Goethe's Werther famously wears his bright yellow waistcoat under his frock (coat).

The frock (coat) was the way most men dressed during the day when formal, or full dress, wasn't necessary or appropriate. In other words, it was used for the same purpose that the lounge suit was worn throughout most of the 20th C. Throughout most of it's life, the frock/frock coat was fashionably available in both cutaway and non-cutaway forms. Sometime in the 19th C, the cutaway version became associated more exclusively with formal wear (dress, in their terms), and began to seem inappropriate for regular non-formal wear, and more and more, less appropriate during the daytime. Then, in the early 20 C. the lounge suit started to make inroads on formal wear, begining in Tuxedo, NY.

 

[Mysterious Mose]

Pretty sure it's from Croonberg's "Blue book of men's tailoring".

It is.

 

[Charlie Huang]

I would like to one day have a frockcoat (and maybe a frock overcoat!) made for me. It would have to have a deep waist supression as I love the look of the older style where the skirt bellows out a bit.

 

[Dennis42]

Take a look at "Old Frontier Clothing". They have a web site.