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Show Us Your OVERCOATS

Luftwaffles

One of the Regulars
Messages
226
Location
South Carolina, US
Bought this today for $35 on eBay. It has buttonholes for both men and women apparently.
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Dinerman

Super Moderator
Bartender
Messages
10,562
Location
Bozeman, MT
Normally, I'd say it's a double breasted with the buttons moved, but I can't quite see how that would work on this coat. The buttons seem to be too far from the edge for regular single breasted styling, but not far enough for the styling of late '40s/early '50s double breasteds (when this style coat was popular). However, an altered double breasted would explain the odd way the sheepskin collar sits overtop the lapels.
 

Fastuni

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,277
Location
Germany
The explanation is rather clear:

It was a women's coat only.

The original (female) buttonholes have been closed, and new buttonholes have been placed on the male side.
The buttons were moved as well, of course.

Already judging from the cut, the slanted pockets, close-set 3 buttons, red lining and most revealingly the lapel-buttonhole on the female side, it is 100% a women's coat.
It certainly is not "unisex" in its original set-up.
"Unisex" was pre-50's almost exclusively limited to utilitarian work- or some cases of sportswear.
Tailored clothing was gender-specific, and this coat is feminine.

Why it was changed to the male side... who knows? Maybe as a costume, maybe for economic reasons... maybe a man wanted to wear it in the 1970's (I could imagine that) and had it altered.
 
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