Redingotes again

Sometimes I can't leave well alone, and sometimes that leads to unexpected consequences. After posting last week about coat patterns in a 1949 Vogue counter catalogue I continued to ponder why two of them were 'redingotes' but a similar one wasn't.

There's lots online about eighteenth century redingotes such as this one, and the always excellent Witness2Fashion has a fascinating post on how the term was used in the early twentieth century (including some great suggestions for 1920s dress styles if, like me, a horizontal line across your hips is not a look which does you any favours!), but I could find nothing on how the term was used in the 1940s and 1950s. So the only thing to do was go back to the source material.

Two redingotes and a coat

All three patterns are for single-breasted, V-neck, full-skirted coats which only fasten to the waist. However, the coat on the right has a one-piece collar, whereas the others have two-piece collars. As the term redingote originally came from 'riding coat', I suspect that the collar may be a crucial element. The redingotes also have pockets, which open along the seam joining the centre front to the side front. Historically redingotes tended to have a long slit at the back, another detail which came from the male riding coat.

So all things considered it's not surprising that when, a couple of days later, I was browsing Style patterns online, this one jumped out at me.

Style 2861, 1997

Single-breasted V-neck, check. Fullish skirt and only fastens to the waist, check. Two-piece collar, check. The back view shows a very high stitching line for the back vent, giving the long back opening.

The seam lines are clearer on the drawing

The back tab is a modern detail, and the front below the pocket flap is in two pieces rather than one. Conversely, the sleeve is cut in a single piece rather than two. But despite these differences, it's still got a definite redingote look to me. Naturally, it has since been added to my collection of Style patterns.

When it comes to coat making, my track record is really not good - Vogue 1266 has been languishing in my UFO pile for years! But if I ever want to make a redingote, I've now got the means to do so.