Questions About the United States Navy Peacoat

[AbbaDatDeHat]

You have a nice 1959 coat and the coveted 1949 peacoat that has the very soft and luxurious shell. Of all of my peacoats, the 1949 has the nicest shell. This has been confirmed by others as well.

Any reason why you picked the Coast Guard coats?

Hey Peacoat:
Thank you for dating them.
Ha ha Yes Peacoat i chose them based on the previous discussions about the lush shell. I just had to see. Now i am glad i did. For that i thank all you guys!!
I always wanted a peacoat, might as well shoot for the best!!
Be well. Bowen

 

[ZenEdge]

Not necessarily. The Navy could have changed the contract during the year. But it probably did not. Letting contracts and taking bids is time consuming. And for that contract there was probably only one company awarded the contract. If the Navy needed high volume that couldn't be supplied by one contractor, others might be awarded the work, but I think that would normally be unusual.

I currently own a peacoat from the 80s made of melton wool by Sterlingwear in a size 40L. It fits well in the body, but was a bit short in the arms so a tailor let out the sleeve hems and I gained about a inch in length. As I mentioned, I have been on a quest for a kersey wool peacoat in a size 40L or, possibly, a 40XL. I have long arms and I don't know if it would be better to buy a 40L again and have the sleeves lengthened or buy a 40XL, which would be fine in the arms, but too long in the body, and have the bottom hem taken up. The risk with the 40L is that the wear from the previous hem would be visible, especially on a vintage coat. The risk with the 40XL is that raising the bottom hem might throw off the proportions or alter the button stance. Any thoughts?

 

[Toto1234]

"a tailor let out the sleeve hems and I gained about a inch in length"
I have done that with a couple of 1940s and 1950s peacoats, for the same reason. They all look great. Because of the dark color you barely see anything (unless you are 5 inches from the seem)

 

[Peacoat]

I currently own a peacoat from the 80s made of melton wool by Sterlingwear in a size 40L. It fits well in the body, but was a bit short in the arms so a tailor let out the sleeve hems and I gained about a inch in length. As I mentioned, I have been on a quest for a kersey wool peacoat in a size 40L or, possibly, a 40XL. I have long arms and I don't know if it would be better to buy a 40L again and have the sleeves lengthened or buy a 40XL, which would be fine in the arms, but too long in the body, and have the bottom hem taken up. The risk with the 40L is that the wear from the previous hem would be visible, especially on a vintage coat. The risk with the 40XL is that raising the bottom hem might throw off the proportions or alter the button stance. Any thoughts?

My thoughts are you had better snap up that coat with the label you posted or you are going to let it get away from you. One reason I say that is because prior to 1980 (the Kersey years), L and XL sizes were either non existent or exceedingly rare. Seems that one of our members reported seeing one, but I may be wrong. I have never seen a tag for L or XL during the Kersey years, and as I said, I have seen thousands of tags.

Toto1234 is correct about letting the sleeve out. What little line may be there isn't noticeable, and it is worth it to get the extra inch.

 

[ZenEdge]

My thoughts are you had better snap up that coat with the label you posted or you are going to let it get away from you.

Roger that. The 40XL (the one with the label I posted) would be too long in the body, though. Can a tailor shorten the coat? Would it look odd?

 

[Peacoat]

I think it can be shortened without much problem as long as only a couple of inches were removed. It may start to look a little odd after 3" or so, but I'm not sure.

You have a double post you can delete by going to the bottom right of your post and clicking on "Delete."

 

[ZenEdge]

Thank you. I deleted the extra post.

 

[Spoonbelly]

My thoughts are you had better snap up that coat with the label you posted or you are going to let it get away from you. One reason I say that is because prior to 1980 (the Kersey years), L and XL sizes were either non existent or exceedingly rare. Seems that one of our members reported seeing one, but I may be wrong. I have never seen a tag for L or XL during the Kersey years, and as I said, I have seen thousands of tags.

Toto1234 is correct about letting the sleeve out. What little line may be there isn't noticeable, and it is worth it to get the extra inch.

I have 2 Kersey coats from 1969. One is labeled 44L (which is mislabeled and really a 46L). The second coat is labeled 46L. Longs in Kersey coats are rare. We're also not sure when they began to issue them. So far 1969 is the earliest year that I know of. However, there certainly could be older ones out there.

 

[ZenEdge]

Several years ago now, Vintage Trends had a Kersey peacoat from 1967 in a size 40XL. I did not buy it because it did not have corduroy pocket linings and they were asking what seemed to me a pretty steep price, $175 plus shipping and no returns. A mistake on my part? Possibly, but then I never saw the coat in person so I can't comment on its condition or how it would it have looked in person. Speaking of Vintage Trends, anyone know what happened to them? Did they go out of business?

 

[Peacoat]

A while back I tried to find the site. Found something that was similar, but I think it was a scam site.

I used to recommend VT to prospective buyers of peacoats but stopped doing so as I was reading complaints about their grading of the coats and the lack of accuracy in measuring the coats. In the opinion of the buyers the listed grades were a step or two higher than the actual condition of the coat. I think that was the beginning of their demise. Sure had a bunch of peacoats, though.

I'm glad Spoonbelly chimed in as I was beginning to doubt that one of our members actually had seen a Kersey in a long size. Not only has he seen them, he has two of them. Don't depend on finding one though as not only are they rare, they are exceedingly rare. Spoon has spent hundreds, perhaps thousands of hours looking for the large size peacoats. It may be that the large sizes are the only with the long sizes as I wear a 40 or 42 and have never seen a long edition in those sizes.

Did you see the actual tag of the size 40 coat with XL on the tag, or did VT list it as an XL?

 

[EmergencyIan]

Zen, are you going to pick that pea coat up? I couldn’t wear it, but if you’re not going to move on it, I’m sure someone else here would like to pick it up to wear or just for its rarity.

- Ian

 

[Peacoat]

I would like to have it to wear, But it would be too long for me. My size 40 peacoat comes in with a body length of 32.5" and the one pictured has a length of 36".

Alternatively, I would like it for its rarity, but I have no more room in my closets.

 

[ZenEdge]

Zen, are you going to pick that pea coat up? I couldn’t wear it, but if you’re not going to move on it, I’m sure someone else here would like to pick it up to wear or just for its rarity.

- Ian

I am hesitating because it's priced at $200, which seems a bit much, plus I know the coat would be too long on me in the body and it would need to be shortened and I don't know how good

A while back I tried to find the site. Found something that was similar, but I think it was a scam site.

I used to recommend VT to prospective buyers of peacoats but stopped doing so as I was reading complaints about their grading of the coats and the lack of accuracy in measuring the coats. In the opinion of the buyers the listed grades were a step or two higher than the actual condition of the coat. I think that was the beginning of their demise. Sure had a bunch of peacoats, though.

I'm glad Spoonbelly chimed in as I was beginning to doubt that one of our members actually had seen a Kersey in a long size. Not only has he seen them, he has two of them. Don't depend on finding one though as not only are they rare, they are exceedingly rare. Spoon has spent hundreds, perhaps thousands of hours looking for the large size peacoats. It may be that the large sizes are the only with the long sizes as I wear a 40 or 42 and have never seen a long edition in those sizes.

Did you see the actual tag of the size 40 coat with XL on the tag, or did VT list it as an XL?

 

[ZenEdge]

A while back I tried to find the site. Found something that was similar, but I think it was a scam site.

I used to recommend VT to prospective buyers of peacoats but stopped doing so as I was reading complaints about their grading of the coats and the lack of accuracy in measuring the coats. In the opinion of the buyers the listed grades were a step or two higher than the actual condition of the coat. I think that was the beginning of their demise. Sure had a bunch of peacoats, though.

I'm glad Spoonbelly chimed in as I was beginning to doubt that one of our members actually had seen a Kersey in a long size. Not only has he seen them, he has two of them. Don't depend on finding one though as not only are they rare, they are exceedingly rare. Spoon has spent hundreds, perhaps thousands of hours looking for the large size peacoats. It may be that the large sizes are the only with the long sizes as I wear a 40 or 42 and have never seen a long edition in those sizes.

Did you see the actual tag of the size 40 coat with XL on the tag, or did VT list it as an XL?

Peacoat, that is a fair question. I honestly cannot remember if I saw a picture of the tag though I feel certain I did. I peppered them with questions about the measurements (body length, sleeve length, button stance, etc) and they all matched measurements I have of 40 XL peacoats.

 

[ZenEdge]

Here are pictures of two different 40XL peacoats. One can see that the distance from the bottom button hole to the button hem was different even though the body length was identical. The button stance is higher at the bottom of one coat than the other. I checked to confirm. The button stance on one was 13.5" and the button stance on the other was 12.5".

 

[EmergencyIan]

I am hesitating because it's priced at $200, which seems a bit much, plus I know the coat would be too long on me in the body and it would need to be shortened and I don't know how good

I understand due to the price. That is steep and probably priced much too high for what it is. Is there any way to make an offer to the seller?

- Ian

 

[ZenEdge]

I am certain you are more knowlegeable about peacoats than I am. I paid $25 for my Sterlingwear 40L, new, a few years ago on eBay. Now, even with buttons missing and moth tracks, sellers routinely ask $80, $100, etc. for older peacoats. What do think is a fair price for the 40XL? Using Peacoat's helpful guide (a shout out to Peacoat) I estimate the date of this coat between to be between 1968 - 1972.

 

[ZenEdge]

I understand due to the price. That is steep and probably priced much too high for what it is. Is there any way to make an offer to the seller?

- Ian

I realize I probably didn't answer your question. I think they would entertain an offer, but the starting price is set so high, that even if they took 50% off, it would still be $100.

 

[EmergencyIan]

I am certain you are more knowlegeable about peacoats than I am. I paid $25 for my Sterlingwear 40L, new, a few years ago on eBay. Now, even with buttons missing and moth tracks, sellers routinely ask $80, $100, etc. for older peacoats. What do think is a fair price for the 40XL? Using Peacoat's helpful guide (a shout out to Peacoat) I estimate the date of this coat between to be between 1968 - 1972.

What is the overall condition of the coat? All I have seen is the label. (It’s got some scribbling on it. So, I know it’s not an unissued in mint condition example)

- Ian

 

[EmergencyIan]

I realize I probably didn't answer your question. I think they would entertain an offer, but the starting price is set so high, that even if they took 50% off, it would still be $100.

I guess it’s priced too high unless it’s mint or close besides the label. It is Kersey and quite a rare size. So, those facts do make it rare. I just don’t think it’s $200 rare, in my opinion. Though; if you really want a kersey version and you really need it in that rare size, it may be worth $200. Maybe Peacoat will weigh in with his more experienced and educated opinion. ...So, hang on, Sloopy.

- Ian