A waistcoat, or vest, is a sleeveless upper-body garment. It is usually worn over a dress shirt and necktie and below a coat as a part of most men's formal wear. It is also sported as the third piece in the traditional three-piece male suit. Any given waistcoat can be simple or ornate, or for leisure or luxury. Historically, the waistcoat can be worn either in the place of, or underneath, a larger coat, dependent upon the weather, wearer, and setting.
The cassock or soutane is a Christian clerical clothing coat used by the clergy and male religious of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church, in addition to some clergy in certain Protestant denominations such as Anglicans and Lutherans. "Ankle-length garment" is the literal meaning of the corresponding Latin term, vestis talaris. It is related to the habits traditionally worn by nuns, monks, and friars.
A coat is typically an outer garment for the upper body, worn by either gender for warmth or fashion. Coats typically have long sleeves and are open down the front, and closing by means of buttons, zippers, hook-and-loop fasteners, toggles, a belt, or a combination of some of these. Other possible features include collars, shoulder straps, and hoods.
A suit, lounge suit, or business suit is a set of clothes comprising a suit jacket and trousers of identical textiles generally worn with a collared dress shirt, necktie, and dress shoes. A skirt suit is similar, but with a matching skirt instead of trousers. It is currently considered semi-formal wear or business wear in contemporary Western dress codes, however when the suit was originally developed it was considered an informal or more casual option compared to the prevailing clothing standards of aristocrats and businessmen. The lounge suit originated in 19th-century Britain as sportswear and British country clothing, which is why it was seen as more casual than citywear at that time, with the roots of the suit coming from early modern Western Europe formal court or military clothes. After replacing the black frock coat in the early 20th century as regular daywear, a sober one-coloured suit became known as a lounge suit.
A tailcoat is a knee-length coat characterised by a rear section of the skirt, with the front of the skirt cut away.
A jacket is a garment for the upper body, usually extending below the hips. A jacket typically has sleeves and fastens in the front or slightly on the side. A jacket is generally lighter, tighter-fitting, and less insulating than a coat, which is outerwear. Some jackets are fashionable, while others serve as protective clothing. Jackets without sleeves are vests.
An overcoat is a type of long coat intended to be worn as the outermost garment, which usually extends below the knee. Overcoats are most commonly used in winter when warmth is more important.
1870s fashion in European and European-influenced clothing is characterized by a gradual return to a narrow silhouette after the full-skirted fashions of the 1850s and 1860s.
A frock coat is a formal men's coat characterised by a knee-length skirt cut all around the base just above the knee, popular during the Victorian and Edwardian periods (1830s–1910s). It is a fitted, long-sleeved coat with a centre vent at the back and some features unusual in post-Victorian dress. These include the reverse collar and lapels, where the outer edge of the lapel is often cut from a separate piece of cloth from the main body and also a high degree of waist suppression around the waistcoat, where the coat's diameter round the waist is less than round the chest. This is achieved by a high horizontal waist seam with side bodies, which are extra panels of fabric above the waist used to pull in the naturally cylindrical drape. As was usual with all coats in the 19th century, shoulder padding was rare or minimal.
A pea coat is an outer coat, generally of a navy-coloured heavy wool, originally worn by sailors of European and later American navies. Pea coats are characterized by short length, broad lapels, double-breasted fronts, often large wooden, metal or plastic buttons, three or four in two rows, and vertical or slash pockets. References to the pea jacket appear in American newspapers at least as early as the 1720s, and modern renditions still maintain the original design and composition.
A double-breasted garment is a coat, jacket, waistcoat, or dress with wide, overlapping front flaps which has on its front two symmetrical columns of buttons; by contrast, a single-breasted item has a narrow overlap and only one column of buttons.
1880s fashion in Western and Western-influenced countries is characterized by the return of the bustle. The long, lean line of the late 1870s was replaced by a full, curvy silhouette with gradually widening shoulders. Fashionable waists were low and tiny below a full, low bust supported by a corset. The Rational Dress Society was founded in 1881 in reaction to the extremes of fashionable corsetry.
An over-frock coat is a formal overcoat designed to be worn over a frock coat if needed in cold weather. A top-frock coat may also be worn over a frock coat in milder weather. Shaped like the body coats popular in the Victorian and Edwardian periods, the over-frock coat was cut in essentially the same way as the frock coat that was worn under it, although it would be larger overall to accommodate the frock-coat worn underneath. Like the frock coat, the over-frock would typically be single-breasted, with step lapels for informal occasions like business, and double-breasted with pointed lapels for formal occasions – weddings, funerals, balls, etc. The top-frock was usually double breasted. The formal variety was sometimes called a Prince Albert overcoat. The Prince Albert top frock, from the later half of the 19th century, originally had a three-inch-wide velvet collar, and flap pockets at the hip, until 1893, when it became even more fitted, longer, and double-breasted.
The Ulster is a Victorian working daytime overcoat, with a cape and sleeves.
Surtout was a kind of overcoat. A "surtout" was a 17th-century term used to describe a coat worn over another coat, like a waistcoat. Surtout was a new name for it; prior to 1684, it was known as "Suravit" on account of Surhabit (overcoat).
The Chesterfield is a formal, dark, knee-length overcoat with a velvet collar introduced around the 1840s in the United Kingdom, with prominence attributed to its namesake George Stanhope, 6th Earl of Chesterfield, then a leader of British fashion.
A British Warm, British warm or British Warm overcoat is a type of woollen overcoat based on the greatcoats worn by British Army officers in the First World War.
A polo coat, also known as a camel coat, is a men's overcoat associated with polo players in England. Camelhair was the fabric at first, but later camelhair and wool blends became standard due to its higher durability. The terms polo coat and camel coat are thus synonymous.
A covert coat or Crombie coat is a gentleman's overcoat typically with notched lapels which originated in the late 19th century as a "short topcoat" to be worn for hunting and horse riding.
A Guards Coat or Guard's Coat is a men's Overcoat which has a half-belt in the back, and is based on the coat that used to be worn by English Officers of the Guard. It is a double-breasted garment in either a 6x3 or 6x2 configuration; in a 6x3 configuration, all three working buttons can be fastened, or just the bottom two. The half-belt can be adjusted with buttons or sewn in place. The Guards Coat has either an Ulster collar or peaked lapels, turn-back cuffs (traditional) or button cuffs (formal), and welt or flap pockets. It comes mostly in formal colours such as a deep navy or midnight blue, and is more formal than the more countrified Ulster coat. These features mean that in its most formal configuration, it is largely similar to a Paletot or double-breasted Chesterfield coat, being distinguished primarily by its color and the presence of the half-belt in back; in its most traditional configuration, it is similar to a military greatcoat but without epaulets, or to a capeless Ulster coat but with a half-belt, different pockets and more formal fabric.
