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Peacoat or dufflecoat over a suit, is this acceptable?

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Byoin

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I've heard mixed things about these two winter coats being used over a business suit.

I've a single breasted pea-coat in beige.. a lot similar to this one
Image

The coat goes down to the crotch like this picture. There's an extra button by the collar, giving me the option to close it when it's very cold, or leave it open, giving me the ability to expose a tie. think this is too casual to wear over a suit when going outside?

Also how bout a duffel? not those short ones, but a longer one in darker colors that's more business like, something like this

Image


yay or nay?
 
#2 ·
I wouldn't wear anything you have posted at all.

In terms of a more traditional duffle coat or peacoat, then no, not advisable in my view due to the mismatch in formality and (in many cases) the length. A padded raincoat may be a better option to bridge smart casualwear and suits, if that is your aim.

I don't know why long coats have waned in popularity (apart from I suppose car use) - they keep the knees warm and most of your trousers dry!
 
#3 ·
I think I would call the first coat you are showing a car coat rather than a pea coat. I don't think a single-breasted anything gets to be called a pea coat.

Most people would say that both of the styles you are showing are too casual to wear over a suit.

I take a slightly different view. Winter coats are expensive (especially if, like you and me, you live in a cold climate) and the budget may not allow for more than one. I wear my LLBean down parka over a suit; fortunately it's long enough to cover my suit coat.

If you're buying a dedicated coat to wear over suits an overcoat is still ideal, especially if you can find a true overcoat and not the lighter, shorter version known as the topcoat. If you're choosing between the pea coat or car coat and a duffle coat, I would probably lean toward the duffle. It's casual, but it's longer and with a fuller cut, so it will have more room to accommodate the suit.

Oh, and I should point out that commenters who come after me will probably think I'm being too permissive.
 
#6 ·
They're only skinny if you're too fat to wear them.

There are far better options for winter coats to be worn over a suit than those shown.

Also, those don't strike me as winter coats. Perhaps more appropriate for the fall or spring but certainly not winter. At least, winter as I know it in Chicago.
 
#8 ·
SG_67 said:
They're only skinny if you're too fat to wear them.
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They're too skinny, even if one is so slight as to make the hunger artist at the end of Kafka's story seem morbidly obese by comparison. (They're also too short, of course.)

There are far better options for winter coats to be worn over a suit than those shown.
Click to expand...
Here, at least, we are in agreement.
 
#9 ·
12345Michael54321 said:
They're too skinny, even if one is so slight as to make the hunger artist at the end of Kafka's story seem morbidly obese by comparison. (They're also too short, of course.)

Here, at least, we are in agreement.
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I'm just being a contrarian. The slacks should be a tad longer to provide a break and just a touch roomier, but he's a slim guy and his pants should fit him. He shouldn't have to swim in them.

My point is that slim fit is a relative term. If you're too fat for the pants you're wearing, it's easy to call them slim fit.
 
#10 ·
SG_67 said:
I'm just being a contrarian. The slacks should be a tad longer to provide a break and just a touch roomier, but he's a slim guy and his pants should fit him. He shouldn't have to swim in them.

My point is that slim fit is a relative term. If you're too fat for the pants you're wearing, it's easy to call them slim fit.
Click to expand...
Disagree on where on the spectrum they lie - they're practically sprayed on. Agree about slim fit being a relative term (although I was using it in the sense of the 'end result' not a particular product, i.e. slim fit versus full cut options).

Neither skinny cut trousers that are the right size for the person in question nor full cut trousers into which someone has poured themselves look good in my view.
 
#11 ·
To return to the focus of the OP's original question, of the two, the duffle looks better. Over suits, I usually wear a trench with a liner, but in the bitter cold I see men with all manner of warm coats over suits, including puffy parkas, long, down commuter coats, etc.
 
#12 · (Edited)
OP, what are other men wearing where you work? How formal is your workplace? I know there are some fields (investment banking, big-firm law, etc.) where men pay great attention to each other's clothes and would, I assume, never think of wearing anything but a top coat, overcoat, or trenchcoat with a suit. However, there aren't many places where that's still the case. I see parkas over suits all the time where I work. (Though where I work is a sartorial nightmare. Where else do you see red dress shirts?!)

So unless you're in one of those uber-tranditional/dressy environments, I think you an get away with the duffel coat for sure. For gosh sakes, Churchill wore one! It does look a little more casual though. If you're wearing a suit a lot of the time, I'd get something more formal.
 
#13 ·
Balfour said:
Disagree on where on the spectrum they lie - they're practically sprayed on. Agree about slim fit being a relative term (although I was using it in the sense of the 'end result' not a particular product, i.e. slim fit versus full cut options).

Neither skinny cut trousers that are the right size for the person in question nor full cut trousers into which someone has poured themselves look good in my view.
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I agree. Check out the sprayed-on trousers that came with my Indochino suit, in the thread I posted a while ago. I can barely squat! I'm pretty sure they used my actual body measurements on the pants. I feel like I'm wearing my wife's pants. Not that I would know what that feels like... It's like they just decided that every guy wants to look like a GQ model in the super-skinny everything.
 
#14 ·
I often wear a duffle, traditionally long and full cut, over a jacket/tie/trousers combination, but I would be reluctant to do so over a suit. Too great a mismatch in formality.
 
#17 ·
On a more positive note. While inappropriate for a suit, too short, too tight, and of a nontraditional color, at least it's reflecting a duffle coat, instead of being some made up monstrosity, that bears no resemblance to a "normal" man's outer coat.

It's kind of an androgynous attempt at a duffle coat to be worn by a cross dresser, who doesn't have the confidence to go all the way, and shop in the women's department.
 
#18 ·
With the exception of the first coat, the others aren't all that bad.

A bit too form fitting for my taste, given that it is outerwear, and I'm not sure I would opt for the fun collar option, but not ideal winter wear or coats to be worn over a suit jacket.
 
#20 ·
Byoin said:
I've heard mixed things about these two winter coats being used over a business suit...
yay or nay?
Click to expand...
godan said:
To return to the focus of the OP's original question, of the two, the duffle looks better. Over suits, I usually wear a trench with a liner, but in the bitter cold I see men with all manner of warm coats over suits, including puffy parkas, long, down commuter coats, etc.
Click to expand...
Lots of great advice above. I would add that whatever coat you end up going with, note if there is liner or not. I made the mistake of wearing a suit with an unlined heavy coat and ended up getting fuzz all over my suit right before an important meeting :(
 
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JBierly
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