My husband will wear the coat with reenacment events set roughly between 1840-1910. With more epmhasis on the early years 1840-1890. So we'd like his to reflect that era, so it will need to have the follow elements, small velvet collar, no waist seam but with a slightly fitted waist. Although the coats where mostly black or grey in colour. We choose to make his a dark bottle green. In style with the time of year it will be mostly worn in, around Christmas!
And bcause I can't get enough of pictures of the originals worn. Here a carte-de-visite portrait of the Prince of Wales (right) with Prince Louis of Hesse (Grand Duke Ludwig IV) made in 1862.
I thought both of them where wearing Chesterfield coat but closer inspection revealed a waist seam on the Prince of Wales his coat. The overcoat on the right is a fine example of a single breasted fly front Chesterfield coat.
In this portrait from around 1899 the gentleman on the left is wearing a double breasted Chesterfield coat.
I will not subject you to my love of vintage photography for any longer but I do feel the need to share this image.
Can you guess what Watson is wearing?!
There are not many Victorian mens clothing patterns around so our choice was limited.
Reconstructing History's #937, Gentleman’s Victorian Chesterfield Top Coat was the best if not the only choice.
Because I wanted to start quickly and to save money I decided to go with the download version. The pictures in the description turned out to be of a generic coat, a lot of pattern pieces weren't on the pattern. Most of them where pretty straight forward, so quite easily to draw yourself with the measurements in the description but some of them where harder like the (partial) lining piece. The things that really gave me a lot of trouble where; markings on the body of the coat but not on the sleeves, or vice versa, I blocked out working with pattern. Ever set in sleeves without knowing how to set them! I had to pin and sew them six times to get it right! No button placement indication, no breast pocket placement indication (for inside or out!), no measurement for the breast pocket pattern piece. No mention in the description of lining the collar or collar lining piece. No real description how to turn the coat into a double breasted version. I seriously don't remember if the list ends here or if there is more....
I love the combination of the black cotton velvet
and the pine green wool.
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