purpose of the belt back?

[Q Money]

Is this mostly cosmetic or is it also an important functional element? I understand the "action back" as it aids in mobility when moving arms upward and about, but have not figured out the belt back beyond its cosmetic allure. durability? Silhouette?

 

[Matt Deckard]

It's for looks... harks to belts on military jackets. Unless you want a spot on the back where you can clip your cell phone... then it has a purpose.

 

[Fletch]

It's for looks, yes, but not just a tack-on sort of looks. When well tailored, it gives a pleasing hourglass shape to the back (and ideally the sides) of the jacket. The beltback implies a certain degree of waist suppression, but since the belt doesn't go around the front, the style can work on those of us without waspy waists.

Without a bellows (=box or action) back, the beltback jacket often had a shirred back with several shallow pleats, which gave billow to the jacket back and helped create an athletic look from the sides.

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

The nipped look is also optical, through the line that part the jacket at the height of the waist (or would-be waist).

 

[Q Money]

The yokes are what I don't get. I can see putting a yoke on a jacket as a design element, but when you add the action back, the part of the jacket back that is most needing of expansion, the shoulders, is bound up with the non-expanding yoke.

Wouldn't the yoke (center of the upper back) expand enough to relieve the shoulder areas?

 

[Mr. Rover]

I think the yoke makes a cleaner presentation for a knife pleat, even though you can have a knife pleat without one. And it's really knife pleats or an action pleat/bi-swing that helps give more flexibility in the jacket. If you have a yoke but with a bi-swing, you'd have a lot of extra give.

 

[thunderw21]

I like a belted back when it is done well. Otherwise, leave me out of it.

I've noticed that a well done belted back will come up against your back; you can feel it. Like was said earlier, it gives the jacket some shape in the back.


The U.S. M1939 service coat (originally meant for both combat and dress) has a belted back as well as my favorite back treatment, the bi-swing back. Being meant for combat (pre-WW2) until replaced by the M1938 and M1941 field jackets (both of which also had belted and bi-swing backs), the M1939 service coat not only had to allow the soldier to move around but it had to be comfortable and look good. The belted back along with the bi-swing back allowed the M1939 service coat to do all these things. Freedom of movement was the name of the game.

Below is an early version of the M1939 service coat. It has a belted back and a bi-swing back. Later versions of this coat kept the belted back but did away with the bi-swing back since it was no longer meant to be used in combat. It is tagged as 42L but fits my 38L frame perfectly.

Note the highly fitted wasp-like silhouette like the jacket Fletch posted. Belted backs allow for this more than plain backs.

The bi-swing back in use. Note the hook meant for the Sam Browne belt.

A neat feature was this interior piece of elastic that ran between the bi-swing back features. It pulled the flaps together.

So, while the belted back makes a better fitted jacket, it paired with a back treatment (not just a bi-swing back) allows for greater movement. That is why we often find belted backs on 'travel' type jackets and often paired with back treatments: to help in ease of movement.