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Bespoke Outerwear

The Overcoat.

A properly made overcoat lasts forty years. Every decade, you are glad you bought it.

A bespoke overcoat is one of the most enduring investments in a wardrobe. Unlike a suit — which may be dated by proportion trends or worn out by heavy use — a well-made overcoat in a classic cloth and cut remains appropriate and presentable for decades. The heavyweight wool or cashmere of a proper overcoat does not go out of style. It simply looks better as it ages. At The Black Lapel, we make overcoats in double-face cashmere, heavyweight melton, and fine English and Italian wool — for Chennai's brief cool months and for travel to cooler climates.

Photograph to follow

Overcoat styles — classic cuts and how to choose

The classic overcoat silhouette is a single-breasted coat with a notch or peak lapel, reaching below the knee, with a clean, slightly suppressed silhouette through the chest and a straight fall through the body. This is the most versatile of all overcoat styles — it works over any suit, is appropriate in every formal and semi-formal context, and reads as correct regardless of decade.

The double-breasted overcoat is bolder — two rows of buttons and wider lapels, typically a peak lapel. It is slightly more formal and more striking than the single-breasted. A double-breasted overcoat in a heavyweight charcoal or navy melton is one of the most impressive garments in formal menswear.

The raglan overcoat has a different shoulder construction — the sleeve is cut in one piece with the shoulder, without a shoulder seam, using a diagonal seam from the armhole to the collar. It is more relaxed in character and slightly less formal, but very practical for travel as it is comfortable to wear for long periods.

Cloth for a bespoke overcoat

Overcoat cloths need weight. A coat that is too light loses its shape and does not keep out cold effectively. The minimum practical weight for an overcoat is around 400 gsm; heavyweight melton and double-face cashmere run to 600–800 gsm or above.

Melton is the classic English overcoat cloth — a heavily fulled (shrunk and compressed) woollen with almost no visible weave structure, dense, smooth and windproof. It is one of the most durable of all suiting and overcoat cloths, and an overcoat in good English melton can be passed on to a son.

Cashmere overcoating is the most luxurious choice — softer than any other cloth, warmer than wool of equivalent weight, and with a drape and a hand that nothing else replicates. A cashmere overcoat in charcoal or camel is one of the finest garments in men's or women's tailoring.

Commission your coat.

Visit us at 4 Sardar Patel Road, Adyar, Chennai — Mon–Sat, 11am–9pm. First consultation free.

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