Ulster coat

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

A 1903 fashion plate of an Ulster, showing how the forearms can be brought under the cape.

The Ulster is a Victorian working daytime overcoat, with a cape and sleeves.

The Ulster is distinguished from the

Inverness coat by the length of the cape. In the Ulster, the cape only reaches just past the elbows, allowing free movement of the forearms. In the Inverness coat, the cape is as long as the sleeves, and eventually replaced the sleeves in the Inverness cape
. It was commonly worn by coachmen who would be seated outdoors in bad weather for long periods, but needed to use their arms to hold reins.

Often made of hard-wearing fabrics, such as herringbone tweed, it was not a formal coat at the time, though in the 20th century a cape would be seen as such. It began to lose its cape in the 1890s, and now rarely has a cape, but continued to be used as a heavy-duty overcoat, often in a double-breasted style.[1]

A lightweight version of this coat is called an ulsterette.[2]

Origins

Dark green coat, 83% wool 12% polyamide 5% polyester. World War II womenswear, the Netherlands

Prior to the inception of the Ulster coat in the first half of the nineteenth century, the

garments proved to be very cumbersome for travel due to the heavy lengths of overlapping cloth involved in creating the silhouette. By the mid-1800s, these coats were replaced by lighter variations such as the Chesterfield Overcoat and the Albert. These coats were designed primarily for show, so did not amount to the same level of weather protection. John McGee of McGee & Co
set about creating a coat that would fulfil this purpose.

By 1866, McGee had conceptualised the coat known as the ‘Ulster.’ The design was met with much attention upon its introduction and brought acclaim to the Irish designer. Due to the increased sales from the popular coat, the company invested in a second location in Belfast, known simply as the ‘Ulster Coat Warehouse.’ The success of the male coat eventually led to a public clamouring for the female version. And so in the early 1870s, an ulster coat for women was introduced to the market. [3]

In fiction

See also: Inverness cape § In popular culture
Strand Magazine illustrations of The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle

It is often seen in

costume dramas
since.

deerstalker hat
and an Ulster coat

It is seen in other works of fiction, including:

In other instances, the appearance of an ulster is a reference to Sherlock Holmes' choice of garment. For example, the title character of

Matt Smith, wore an ulster coat when posing as Sherlock Holmes on the Doctor Who episode The Snowmen
.

See also

References

  1. ^ "The Ulster Overcoat". 23 March 2010.
  2. ISBN 9780810840041
    .
  3. JSTOR 20491823
    . Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  4. ISBN 978-1-78092-795-4
    .
  5. ISBN 0897332997
    .
  6. ISBN 9780141182452
    .
  7. ^ Montgomery, L.M. (1908). Anne of Green Gables.
  8. ^ Conrad, Joseph (1902). Heart of Darkness.
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