Men's Overcoat Styles: Chesterfield, Double-Breasted, Raglan, Trench and Pea Coat

The Chesterfield is the classic formal overcoat: a tailored coat with a smooth, fairly close line, no waist seam, a notch lapel and, very often, a velvet-covered collar. The single-breasted version typically has a fly front, where the buttons are hidden under a strip of cloth so the front reads as one clean surface. Double-breasted Chesterfields also exist.

It is a town coat, at home over a business suit or evening wear, and it is usually made in a dark plain cloth such as navy, charcoal or black. Our pattern 6010, a Classic Knee Length Coat with Velvet Collar, belongs to this family.

The plain single-breasted overcoat is the most adaptable style. It usually has three or four visible buttons, notch lapels and flapped or welt pockets, and its length ranges from just above the knee to below it. Without the formality of a velvet collar or fly front, it works over both suits and casual layers.

Our pattern 6009, a Men's Classic Single-Breasted Overcoat, is a good starting point for a first coat, because its construction follows the logic of a tailored jacket on a larger scale.

Double-breasted overcoats carry two columns of buttons and a wide overlap, which also gives a second layer of cloth over the chest in cold wind. Common layouts are 6x2 and 6x3, where six buttons are arranged in three pairs and two or three of them fasten. Peak lapels are typical, sometimes broad enough to be turned up and closed across the throat.

Longer versions with a deep overlap are among the most imposing coats in menswear. Our pattern 6015, a Men's Double Breasted Coat, and 6016, a Men's Long Double-Breasted Overcoat, cover the standard and long variants.

• Raglan overcoat: the sleeve extends up to the neckline in a diagonal seam instead of being set into a round armhole. The shoulder is softer and roomier, which makes the coat easy to wear over thick jackets. Our pattern 6014, a Single-Breasted Raglan Sleeve Overcoat, is an example.
• Trench coat: a double-breasted, belted raincoat with features such as a storm flap at the shoulder, epaulettes, a belt and buckled sleeve straps. It is traditionally made in tightly woven cotton gabardine. Our pattern 6023 is a Double Breasted Belted Trench Coat.
• Raincoat: a simpler, lighter coat for wet weather, often single-breasted with a plain front and minimal trim; our pattern 6053, a Single-Breasted Raincoat, is one.
• Pea coat: a short, double-breasted coat of heavy wool, usually navy, with broad lapels and hand-warmer pockets. It ends around the upper thigh and is worn with casual clothes rather than over a suit.

The essential rule is that an overcoat worn over a jacket must be longer than the jacket, comfortably covering its hem in every position. In practice, most classic overcoats end somewhere between just above and just below the knee. Knee length is the safe default: long enough to look formal and keep the legs warm, short enough to walk and climb stairs. Shorter men usually look better in a coat that ends at or just above the knee, while a long coat on a short frame can overwhelm the figure.

Longer coats, ending mid-calf, look dramatic and suit tall figures, but they need a back vent or a generous hem sweep so they do not restrict stride. Shorter coats such as the pea coat are casual by nature and should not be worn over a tailored jacket whose hem would show beneath them.

Check the sleeve length at the same time. An overcoat sleeve should cover the jacket sleeve and shirt cuff completely with the arms relaxed, and still not swallow the hand. Because the coat is worn over a jacket, its sleeve is cut a little longer and wider than the jacket sleeve beneath it.

The biggest difference between a coat and a jacket pattern is ease. A jacket is drafted over a shirt; an overcoat is drafted over a jacket, sometimes over a jacket and a knit. That means generous extra width through the chest, back and armholes, a larger armhole and sleeve so the jacket sleeve fits inside without bunching, and a slightly longer sleeve so it covers the jacket cuff.

Do not try to add this ease yourself by measuring over a jacket or by choosing a size up from a jacket pattern. A proper overcoat pattern builds the layering ease into the draft from your body measurements, and adding more on top usually produces a coat that is too wide in the shoulders.

• Melton: a heavily fulled wool with a dense, smooth face. Wind resistant and easy to tailor, with edges that do not fray badly. Classic for pea coats and robust overcoats.
• Loden: a fulled, water-resistant wool with a soft hand, traditional in Alpine coats and well suited to raglan styles.
• Wool and cashmere blends: a softer handle and a refined face for Chesterfields and town coats; handle carefully as they mark easily when pressed.
• Overcoating twills and herringbones: hard-wearing, with texture that hides small irregularities.
• Cotton gabardine: tightly woven twill, the traditional choice for trench coats and raincoats, crisp and shower resistant.

A coat uses a lot of cloth, and good coating is expensive, so it pays to start from a pattern that already reflects the wearer's shoulders, chest and length. Altering the shoulders or balance of a finished coat is far harder than on a shirt.

Minerva Patterns drafts each coat from the measurements you enter, with the ease for wearing over a jacket built into the draft, so there is no grading between sizes and no guesswork about how much room to add. You choose the format when ordering: printable PDF (A4, US Letter, A0 or one long sheet), a projector file for cutting large coat pieces without printing, PLT, or DXF AAMA for pattern software, with or without seam allowances.