Field coat in cotton sail-cloth in umber

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£490.00 — ex VAT

Field coat, made in London, with heavy (13oz) weatherproof cotton from Northern Ireland, and a brass buckle and loops from the Midlands.

Sizing

This version of the field coat fits half a size small on account of the thickness of the cloth. Go up one size if even slightly between sizes, or minded to wear the coat over several layers.

XS S M L XL
To fit chest 36 38 40 42 44
Pit-to-pit 20 21 22 23 24
Shoulder 17 17½ 18 18½ 19
Back length 31¾ 32 32¼ 32½ 32¾
Sleeve from centre-back 33¼ 33¾ 34¼ 34¾ 35¼

Caring

This is cotton, but with elements like the sleeve-lining and the press-studs which are not. As such, it is best washed by hand in lukewarm water, or dry cleaned. If a machine must be used, a cold wash and no tumble-drying is the only option. Bonus points may be earned by using one of those clever washing potions designed for hydrophobic materials.

The field coat is a coat of medium length, with a front of six press-studs (hidden from view when fastened). It has a rounded, turn-down collar of middling size, which is cut such that it closely skims the neck, holds form and shape at all times, and is just as happy worn up as down, or anywhere in between.
The firmness of the cotton sail-cloth helps the collar stand up without so much as a hint of droop. Keeps the wind off the neck and chin, and because of the brushed nature of the cloth, it is especially warm and comfortable on skin.
The coat has what's known as a shooting shoulder or action back. This is a gusset, running across the upper back, which significantly benefits movement in the forward and upward directions. After stretching out, the gusset returns obediently to shape, thanks to elasticity hidden in the back.
The coat has large, expandable bellows pockets with rounded corners. They're also floating, in that they are connected to the coat only at the top. And so, when the wearer bends over, say, the pockets obey gravity rather than the angle of the body, and thus the contents of said pocket are far less likely to fall out.
The belt runs under the pocket flaps, and fastens with a brass buckle at the front. There are also two brass loops at the back: it's a two-piece belt, see. Much like the strap of a bag, this means the total length of the belt can be adjusted to the perfect length, depending on abdominal girth and personal preference.
Not everyone likes belts, of course, and so, since the field coat has no belt loops, and the belt runs under the pockets, nobody will be any the wiser if the belt is done away with. The wearer might even wish to keep the unused belt in a place for safekeeping — in a hidden pocket, say, on which more shortly.
There are two hand-warmer pockets above the main pockets — ideal for the resting of tired hands or the warming of cold ones. These pockets are strengthened, top and bottom, with stout little bar-tacks — as indeed is every other point of hard stress and wear on the coat.
The cuffs of the coat have a gusseted construction — through which wind and rain shall never pass — and, with the help of more press-studs, fastens to one of two tightnesses.
At the back of the coat, in the area south of the belt-line and between the twin vents, there is a hidden poacher's pocket. It is accessible from the sides — either left or right — and is handy for the last-minute stuffing of trout, salmon, and other ill-gotten gains.
One more pocket can be found on the field coat, at the chest on the inside, left-side as worn, and is exactly where your hand will expect to find it when it goes looking for it.
The cloth is a high-count canvas. It has a weatherproof treatment that keeps off rain at a canter, but not at the expense of comfort and breathability. It is also hard-wearing, and to coin the cliché, gets better with age. Impressively deep colouring, too, thanks to outstanding old-school cotton dyeing.

As worn

This gentleman is as standard a 38 chest as you could ever wish to meet, with a height of 6ft 1in and weight of 12 stone. The field coat he's wearing is size S.

Makers of

The coat is made in north-east London. It is a very specialised skill, assembling coats from heavy cloth, and every reasonable step — and the odd unreasonable step — is taken to ensure things are built to last, from the cutting of the pattern to the work on the machine, but without the results being stiff or bulky.
The cotton is from Northern Ireland, from a mill on the coast, where the making of heavy, waxed, and otherwise element-proof materials emerged in hand, centuries ago, with local seafaring trades. Industry-strength cottons finished in industry-leading ways is now the order of the day.
The brass hardware is made by a foundry in the West Midlands, which was founded in the 1800s. It is the last such foundry in an area once heaving with them. Its sand-casting method — which sees 940°c molten brass poured by hand from a crucible into sand-made moulds — is ancient and infallible.

So they say

Just a quick note to say thank you to you for the lovely field coat. It arrived this morning and it is a thing of beauty — an heirloom piece worthy of passing down to descendants.

A happy and admirably forward-thinking purchaser of the field coat in sail-cloth in Scotland in winter 2021.

The field coat has arrived. What a coat! Much needed relief shall be provided to my dear and beloved Ventile tour jacket. It is magical and delightfully unusual. I'm really looking forward to wearing it — in a few months, I assume.

So said a man in Hungary, who purchased the field coat in dark green canopy cotton in May 2018.

Your field coat has now seen a few weeks of use in the fields of Budapest and beyond, and I still find it magical and delightfully unusual. Wearing it feels like being dressed in a tent from a travel book of indeterminate age. The first person to compliment me on it was, of course, my father.

Said the same man, a few (wet) months later.

I got my hands on the jacket [and shirt] the other day. The jacket is S.E.H Kelly par excellence — perhaps supplanting itself as my number-one S.E.H Kelly garment. Cracking.

Upbeat words from a man in Beijing, but sometimes Stanford, and sometimes Plymouth, about his field coat in dark navy, in November 2018.