A car coat is an outer garment originally made to be worn by automobile drivers and passengers. First designed to provide maximum warmth and coverage, over time it became a much shorter garment. Today it describes a coat that typically ends at mid thigh. It is worn by both men and women.
While fur, leather and heavy wool were preferred in the early days, today the coat may be made in a wide variety of materials. In the period after World War II, it took on design elements of the jeep coat worn by servicemen and this is when the shorter length became common. As car ownership grew so did the popularity of the coat; by the 1960s it was described as "ubiquitous". The car coat remains popular today, both as a functional and a fashion garment.
Early history of the car coat
Originally the car coat was more usually termed 'motoring dress'. It emerged in the early 1900s, when driving was considered an outdoor sport (most cars were open top) and required protective clothing. Clothing for men and women and for driver and passenger was relatively similar, comprising a long heavy coat. This was often in fur or lined with fur, although sometimes it was in heavy cloth. In summer, women would wear a duster coat, sometimes called a dust coat, to cover their garments, in a cloth such as linen or alpaca wool. This would be accessorised with gloves, goggles and a hat – women often wore elaborate hats and veils, while men would wear a cap. These accessories were worn year round.
Motoring was still an activity for the elite, however the privations of driving in a vehicle that broke down frequently and provided no retreat from the elements, meant clothing had to be functional and warm. Sports motorist Dorothy Levitt – author of the 1909 handbook The Woman and the Car and dubbed 'the fastest woman on earth' for her 'scorching' (speeding) antics round tracks such as Brooklands – provided useful tips for women drivers on what to wear, along with guidance about the mechanical aspects of driving. On choosing the right coat, she said: "Under no circumstance wear lace or fluffy adjuncts to your toilet. There is nothing like a thick frieze, homespun or tweed coat lined with fur. Do not heed the cry, 'nothing like leather.' Leather coats do not wear gracefully."
1920s styles
In the 1920s, women continued to favour male motoring dress and this also crossed over into high fashion. A 1921 article in The Times about the latest Paris fashions described a red leather motoring coat fastened with metal buckles. Similar leather coats had been popular for chauffeurs and male motorists for several years. Fur was still popular, with a fashion correspondent noting that the Motor Show in Olympia was transforming shop windows around London. She recommended the latest craze for fur-lined coats in tweed, wool velour and cheviot. Musquash and nutria were also being chosen by women motorists, while in Knightsbridge, one new store was offering women's coats suitable for motoring made from men's suiting cloth.
Accessories also followed the unisex trend; The Times described the arrival of neat leather caps as a fashion accessory for women in 1923. This style of sporty hat was worn in the iconic Tamara de Lempicka self-portrait of 1929 in which she is driving a green Bugatti with leather cap and driving gloves – reputed to be based on an Hermès set that she had seen on the cover of the magazine Vu. As this portrait suggests, and Peter Thorold has noted, the car had become the ultimate symbol of modernity and emancipation, something that was reflected in the styling of clothes. Although no coat is visible in the de Lempicka portrait, by the late 1920s the latest motoring coats from France were worn long, made of tweed or flannel with narrow leather belts and collars in fur or flannel. Wide raglan sleeves were popular – allowing freedom of movement – and collars could be military in style with buttons up to the neck.
Reporting on fashions in the shops ahead of the 1931 Motor Show, The Times described not only furs, but a new trend for shorter coats – made of suede and silk lined with zips as fastening – for walking and motoring. As cars became more common and designs provided more protection from the elements, clothing reduced in weight and quantity. However the leather motoring coat remained popular as a distinct item of dress throughout the 1930s.
Postwar designs
The immediate precursor to the postwar (modern) car coat was based around the jeep coat, a design popular in wartime for the drivers of open-topped vehicles. This was generally of a shorter length, ending at mid thigh.