This man’s coat combines practicality with style. Its dense wool fabric, known as superfine, provides warmth, its long skirt covers much of the legs, its adjustable collar can be turned up and fastened with the storm flap to protect the neck from bad weather, and beneath each pocket flap a buttoned tab adds extra security. The coat’s silhouette is dashing with its full chest, gathered shoulder line (echoing that of contemporary women’s wear), defined waistseam emphasised by large pocket flaps, and long full skirt. It was important for the fashionable man to look as good from the back as from the front, with the deep central vent flanked by vertical buttoned flaps providing a focus to the flared skirt. A black top hat, contrasting trousers, possible strapped beneath the instep, and a high collared shirt with a cravat would have been seen worn with the coat.

As a part of the John Bright reference collection available to costume designers, the coat has been the inspiration for many examples made for film and television productions in a variety of colours, fabrics and lengths.