With winter fast approaching, now is an ideal time to consider investing in a new overcoat. A staple in any man’s wardrobe, a well considered garment will work well for a multitude of occasions when restrictions are lifted.

1. Single/Double Breasted

While double breasted is more traditional, it can still be dressed down with a jumper and chinos and worn on the weekend.

Single breasted, especially with concealed buttons gives a clean silhouette.

Try spicing things up, and if most of your suits are double-breasted, why not try a single breasted overcoat, or vice versa.

2. Lapels

Overcoats tend to have wider lapels than a suit jacket and come in a variety of options including notched, peaked, semi peaked, and napoleon.

Menswear ‘rules'' that apply to blazers and jackets, don’t apply to overcoats.. so, if you want notch lapels on a double breasted overcoat, that’s perfectly fine.

3. Length

Overcoats traditionally come in two lengths:

- full, which is three-quarters of a person’s height, and

- three-quarter length, which falls between the height of your pockets and knees.

We can make your overcoat in any length.

However, longer coats lend themselves to more formal occasions while shorter coats are more versatile for both formal and casual occasions.

4. Colour/Pattern

Traditional colours for an overcoat are navy blue, camel or brown, grey, and black.

Think about when you will wear your coat, and what you will wear it with.

This will determine whether you go for a solid colour or a check.

I have a wide selection of overcoat fabrics available from some of the best Italian and English mills.

1. Fabric

Wool ($$$)

This is the one of the warmest and most durable fabrics. This overcoat should last you a long time and hold up to a significant degree of punishment.

Wool/Cashmere ($$$)

This combines the best properties of wool with those of cashmere, giving you a warm and light coat which will hold up well to a fair degree of punishment.

Cashmere ($$$$)

This fabric is lighter and softer than wool, but this means it will be less durable, and will show signs of wear sooner than a coat made out of either wool or a wool cashmere blend.

Camel Hair ($$)

This fabric has very similar properties to cashmere, but as it comes in lighter colours means it may require more frequent dry cleaning than a darker coat in either wool or cashmere.

Alpaca ($$$)

This fabric is ideal if you want a light weight but warm for a coat for a special occasion. I would not recommend this for every day wear, as it’s short fibres are less forgiving than some of the other fabrics and it will show wear much sooner.

Of course the absolute gold standard for an overcoat is:

Vicuña ($$$$$$)

This is one of the softest and warmest wools available - at various points in history has been worth more than it’s weight in gold. Its cost was highlighted in the 1950 movie Sunset Boulevard: when purchasing a coat the tailor urges the character Joe Gillis (played by William Holden): “As long as the lady is paying, why not take the vicuña.”

Vicuña aside, make an appointment and have the perfect overcoat to wear this winter.

Vicuna overcoats are available from Samuel Diamond starting at $29,999.00 (AUD) - Yes, that is the real price.

Our custom overcoats are from $899, Dugdale Bros $1599, and Dormeuil $2299

Drop by and check out our new overcoats, available now in a wide range of options.

Make an Appointment