Does anyone know what a highwayman's coat is and where I could find a sewing pattern for one?

Question

I consider myself pretty good at sewing, and have taken on the task of making a highwayman's coat for my boyfriend because he really would like one. a highway man's coat looks sort of like trench coat. there is a good picture at this website: http://www.alteregocomics.com/store/catalog/French_Highwayman_Coat-p-4319.html does anyone know of any patterns for such a coat or one that i could alter? does anyone own a highwayman's coat and if so could you describe how the back of it looks ( a picture would be great if you could send it to me somehow). I can find plenty of pictures of the front of one but none of the back. thanks

Answer 1

The highwayman's coat is nothing more than a standard ankle length jacket with a split up to the waist in the middle of the back.  It was done like this because highwaymen traveled by horse more than anything else & the regular, non-split, jacket would get twisted up & dirty & would not protect the back of the riders legs from rain, etc.  You need a standard trench coat & merely split it in the back from the hem to the waist & do a triple stitch reinforcement for the split to avoid unraveling & fraying.

Answer 2

Poke around in the patterns section of http://www.costumes.org

I'm thinking something like Folkwear's Australian drover coat or perhaps something from Cutter and Tailor would be a good starting point.

Also google "Kate Dicey" and look in her sewing pages for some of the coats she's made.