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  1. Doctor Damage

    The Fedora Lounge Guide to The U.S. Navy Bridge Coat

    LBJ in the naval reserve, 1941.
  2. Doctor Damage

    The Fedora Lounge Guide to The U.S. Navy Bridge Coat

    The photo below shows a band leader in 1953 wearing a bridge coat.
  3. Doctor Damage

    The Fedora Lounge Guide to The U.S. Navy Bridge Coat

    Below are some wartime era photos. The photo below: "The Navy football team arrived today on the Pennsylvania Railroad for their football game against the Army team to be held tomorrow at Soldiers' Field, Chicago, Illinois, November 27, 1926." The following photos are from WWII. The first one...
  4. Doctor Damage

    The Fedora Lounge Guide to The U.S. Navy Bridge Coat

    How old are bridge coats? Well over a century! Below are some screenshots and links to historical USN Uniform Regulations documents. Early bridge coats were much like the early peacoats in appearance and configuration except with long skirts, and it was not until later that bridge coats took on...
  5. Doctor Damage

    The Fedora Lounge Guide to The U.S. Navy Bridge Coat

    The coat below (dated 1941) has three cuff stripes for a Commander. Note the matching shoulder boards. The coat below (dated 1944) has four cuff stripes for a Captain. Note clear view of the throat latch which is buttoned to the inside of the coats skirts.
  7. Doctor Damage

    The Fedora Lounge Guide to The U.S. Navy Bridge Coat

    Below are some vintage bridge coats with rank braiding on the sleeve cuffs. According to Peacoat and others, these distinctions were discontinued in the early 1950s (1953?), although it’s possible some long-serving officers never bothered to remove the stripes. It’s important to note that the...
  8. Doctor Damage

    Questions About the United States Navy Peacoat

  9. Doctor Damage

    U.S. Navy bridge coats

    This is a fun illustration of the 1941 uniform regulations. The officer holding the envelope is in a bridge coat with shoulder boards and rank braid on cuffs. (The officer in front has the boat cloak, which we all remember FDR wearing at the Yalta conference, and if you look closely you can see...
  10. Doctor Damage

    U.S. Navy bridge coats

    Cockpit USA, which usually makes repro flight jackets, is selling a bridge coat repro. Looks like a Fidelity coat (i.e. non-military spec) with some odd details.
  11. Doctor Damage

    Questions About the United States Navy Peacoat

    That means the coat's sleeves were shortened at some point, since the rank braid would have been a couple inches above the cuff when new.
  13. Doctor Damage

    Questions About the United States Navy Peacoat

    Source: http://indicatorloops.com/usn_pequot.htm Quote: Roger Calamaio and Norman Zinner ashore in their regulation Pea Coats 1943. Roger loved that thick wool coat. He said it made him feel "snug as a bug in a rug."
  14. Doctor Damage

    The Fedora Lounge Guide to The U.S. Navy Bridge Coat

    The coat below has a removable liner, which zips in and out (note the zipper seen in the close-up photo). These photos show the upper pair of buttons which close the lapels up to the neck, plus the small black buttons which fasten the rear vent. Note again how the vent closes to the "left". Note...
  15. Doctor Damage

    The Fedora Lounge Guide to The U.S. Navy Bridge Coat

    Now for the different types of linings/liners these coats seem to have: (1) normal, non-removable liner, much like you’d see in any civilian overcoat (either full-length or half-length). (2) removable warm liner, which is installed and removed via zipper. The coat below has a full-length fixed...
  16. Doctor Damage

    The Fedora Lounge Guide to The U.S. Navy Bridge Coat

    One final set of sample tags... these two tags are from the same coat, a standard design bridge coat, in this case made by Sterlingwear of Boston, the famous long-time supplier of the USN peacoats!
  17. Doctor Damage

    The Fedora Lounge Guide to The U.S. Navy Bridge Coat

    More sample labels... these are the small white technical info tags which are usually found inside the internal pocket.
  19. Doctor Damage

    The Fedora Lounge Guide to The U.S. Navy Bridge Coat

    The labels below are from the same coat, a new coat purchased a few years by a currently service USN officer.
  20. Doctor Damage

    The Fedora Lounge Guide to The U.S. Navy Bridge Coat

    Sample labels. In this series the last two labels are from the same coat. It’s quite evident that a wide variety of private manufacturers, tailors, and clothing shops have made these coats over the years.
  21. Doctor Damage

    The Fedora Lounge Guide to The U.S. Navy Bridge Coat

    Let’s go back in time for a moment. Here’s where these coats came from, the old “watch coat” worn by USN officers. Unlike the old watch coats, the modern bridge coats are not meant to be worn on day-to-day shipboard duty so they have become thinner, lighter garments for occasional use only.
  22. Doctor Damage

    The Fedora Lounge Guide to The U.S. Navy Bridge Coat

    The coat below has a bottom button missing on the front. These images are useful since they illustrate the thick shoulder padding used in these coats and how the rear half-belt helps drape the cloth. This coat seems particularly well cut. The coat below is dated 1941 and you can get a good...
  23. Doctor Damage

    The Fedora Lounge Guide to The U.S. Navy Bridge Coat

    The design of these coats is more or less standard, but the labels seem to be different with each manufacturer or retailer, and with age obviously. On the coat below note the buttons to close the rear vent. The large label say it’s a “regulation US Navy uniform” item, a common enough label (with...

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