Peacoat Question

[Hux]

Hey everyone! New guy here. Hope to take part in some fun discussions soon, but I wanted to start with a simple question. Kind of a silly one, but it's important.

Despite my love of vintage wear and style, I'm the kind of man that thinks wearing pants and a shirt makes a "matching" outfit. In other words I'm not very good at matching stuff. I've been wanting to get a nice classic navy peacoat, like my grandfather had in the service. But my hats are black and brown. Would the black hat clash with the navy peacoat? Should I just get a black peacoat?

Thanks for the help

 

[Seb Lucas]

Everyone will have a different view, there are strong emotions about color matching. Mine is that matching dress items often looks a little bit twee and anal. And what is matching anyway? Blues with blues and blacks with blacks don't always match as they can be totally different shades. Black or brown with navy blue go fine. My view is wear what you want and decide for yourself what works. If you have to ask others if it is permissible, it probably isn't a thing.

 

[Spoonbelly]

Hey everyone! New guy here. Hope to take part in some fun discussions soon, but I wanted to start with a simple question. Kind of a silly one, but it's important.

Despite my love of vintage wear and style, I'm the kind of man that thinks wearing pants and a shirt makes a "matching" outfit. In other words I'm not very good at matching stuff. I've been wanting to get a nice classic navy peacoat, like my grandfather had in the service. But my hats are black and brown. Would the black hat clash with the navy peacoat? Should I just get a black peacoat?

Thanks for the help

My take is that I love peacoats so damn much that I don't care what's on my head. I do wear black knitted caps with my peacoats though. My peacoats are dark navy blue (Kersey wool), and black (Melton wool). I would also highly suggest a vintage dark navy blue (Kersey) peacoat.

 

[Peacoat]

A black or dark blue hat or cap will go with a navy (midnight blue) vintage peacoat, or a current issue Sterlingwear, which to my eyes is black.

Welcome to the Lounge.

 

[Carlos840]

I actually prefer to wear a black hat with my navy blue peacoat, it makes it less uniform looking...

 

[dudewuttheheck]

If it were me, I would almost make sure my hat did NOT match my peacoat and probably wear a brown hat with a navy peacoat. However, a navy hat and navy peacoat would look fine as well. The great thing about navy blue is that (IMO) it goes with every single color and I don't think any other color does that except for maybe white.

 

[Hux]

Hey everyone thanks for all the great responses.

I ended up buying a nice wool peacoat from Nordstroms made by Topman. It fits really nicely, is a great navy/midnight blue, and Usually wear it with my black fedora and black leather gloves. The only "problems" with it are that it only has one set of hand warmer pockets, and plain buttons. I like the look with the cargo pockets and love the anchor buttons, but it fit so well and was so warm I couldn't resist. Maybe I'll post a pic later.

 

[Seb Lucas]

Oh... when your wrote you wanted a "classic navy peacoat" I thought you meant a proper vintage one as seen on many posts here. You need to get a vintage one in Kersey wool. You can get them in terrific condition. Much, much nicer than a fashion repro.

 

[Peacoat]

Oh... when your wrote you wanted a "classic navy peacoat" I thought you meant a proper vintage one as seen on many posts here. You need to get a vintage one in Kersey wool. You can get them in terrific condition. Much, much nicer than a fashion repro.

Yes, Kersey is the best way to go. It isn't available in the fashion repro garments, except perhaps History Preservation/Buzz Rickson is the name of the company that makes a very nice repro peacoat in the pre WWII style.

 

[Spoonbelly]

Hey everyone thanks for all the great responses.

I ended up buying a nice wool peacoat from Nordstroms made by Topman. It fits really nicely, is a great navy/midnight blue, and Usually wear it with my black fedora and black leather gloves. The only "problems" with it are that it only has one set of hand warmer pockets, and plain buttons. I like the look with the cargo pockets and love the anchor buttons, but it fit so well and was so warm I couldn't resist. Maybe I'll post a pic later.

Do you wear a common size? If so I would also look for a vintage dark blue US Navy Kersey coat. They really are "the cats meow". The most common sizes are 36, 38, and 40. 44 and 46 are a bit rare, and 48 very rare. I started with 1 and now have 8. Caution - They are addicting.

 

[Hux]

Thanks Seb. Yeah, when I said "classic navy" I was referring to color and general look, not one worn by a sailor during one of the world wars. I mostly buy repros because I don't really have the money for a lot of vintage stuff. Plus, I've been burned buying clothes online before, and I generally insist on trying things on. Especially jackets I'll be wearing for years to come.

I've seen the Kersey and Sterlingwear coats online, but was never able to find them to try on in person, so I went with one I could. It's mostly wool with s little rayon in it, and I love the way it fits and feels.

 

[skydog757]

If you are looking for versatility in a hat color, grey with a black hatband works with nearly everything.