Pea coat v reefer coat

I always understood that a pea coat was a b*m freezer (ie cut to finish on the waistline) whereas the reefer jacket is normal modern jacket length, just tight fitting around the chest and buttoned up tight.

The navy chaps will be along when they get out of bed to give you chapter & verse.

Are you joining a posh yacht club??
 
Well in this specific case - from the advert:

"Reefers are lined in polyester acetate Pea coats are unlined bound interior seams"

...but I don't know what the traditional difference is/was... according to the free dictionary the two jackets are the same, but the reefer was worn by officers and had gold buttons etc. which is kind of similar to the advert.... :D
 
In essence a pea-coat was for ratings and NCO's while a reefer is officer kit, the main difference being the weight of cloth.
The term pea-coat comes from the cousins, although the US Navy copied the style from the RN. The "pea" derives from the Dutch word "Pij" which describes a style of coarse cloth with a slightly furry side.
Today you will be hard-pressed to find a proper reefer off the shelf. I did find a tailor which did a bespoke reefer; Gieves and Hawkes in London should you wish to lay out a grand-and-a-half.
Reefers are lighter weight, doeskin, pilot cloth or barathea. The colour should be a uniform very dark blue. It should have two vents, and be double breasted with six working buttons and two show buttons. The lapels are not the same as on a pea-coat, more like those on a blazer.
 
Grand and a half!!!!!!!!!!!!

In last week's Observer there was an offer on for unlined pea coats and lined reefer jackets for £134.99. see http://tinyurl.com/6dtg83t or phone 03303336801 quoting TG2352.
Having looked at the ad. again, I think I will get one!! Where do I get a cap with braid to complete the outfit??


PS I have just read the OP properly.The fact that he is a Telegraph reader threw me completely! Same coat different newspaper.
 
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I got mine from a relative in the states -from their equivalent of the NAAFI. The thing has been practically bulletproof. Very well made indeed. Recently I've seen copies everywhere -including Tesco's and Aldi. There was a time, however, when it was compulsory wear for thugs and pschos in American cinema. I got mine before that after seeing Nicholson in the Last Detail. They go in and out of fashion but mine is now suitably shabby for wearing on the boat, and very cosy it is too with the collar turned up.
 
Reefers and blazers

A second but similar type of reefer is a double breasted blazer with blue cloth buttons, worn indoors or outdoors with a collar and tie.

I wish I could find one in real men's sizes (50-52" chest, extra long) at a reasonable price !
 
Gordonmc said:
In essence a pea-coat was for ratings and NCO's while a reefer is officer kit, the main difference being the weight of cloth.
The term pea-coat comes from the cousins, although the US Navy copied the style from the RN. The "pea" derives from the Dutch word "Pij" which describes a style of coarse cloth with a slightly furry side.
Today you will be hard-pressed to find a proper reefer off the shelf. I did find a tailor which did a bespoke reefer; Gieves and Hawkes in London should you wish to lay out a grand-and-a-half.
Reefers are lighter weight, doeskin, pilot cloth or barathea. The colour should be a uniform very dark blue. It should have two vents, and be double breasted with six working buttons and two show buttons. The lapels are not the same as on a pea-coat, more like those on a blazer.
Click to expand...

And to confuse the issue further, nowadays a club blazer is informally referred to as a reefer in the royal clubs, certainly in mine and others I have visited.
It is a conventional sartorial requirement after 6 PM.
This blazer is double breasted with four working buttons out of a total of six.
It has two vents, three buttons on each cuff.
The buttons must not be brass, but instead black club buttons.
The blazer may be worn with gray or navy blue trousers.
Conventionally the shirt is white.
And conventionally it is a double cuff shirt (club cufflinks), very posh you see.:D
Then either the club tie may be worn, or, as I personally prefer, a club cravat.
In summer, the trousers may be white.
 
VO5 said:
And to confuse the issue further, nowadays a club blazer is informally referred to as a reefer in the royal clubs, certainly in mine and others I have visited.
It is a conventional sartorial requirement after 6 PM.
This blazer is double breasted with four working buttons out of a total of six.
It has two vents, three buttons on each cuff.
The buttons must not be brass, but instead black club buttons.
The blazer may be worn with gray or navy blue trousers.
Conventionally the shirt is white.
And conventionally it is a double cuff shirt (club cufflinks), very posh you see.:D
Then either the club tie may be worn, or, as I personally prefer, a club cravat.
In summer, the trousers may be white.
Click to expand...




You meet such an eclectic mix here. In my club all you need is an arse in your trousers.
 
Twister_Ken said:
One smells of urine, the other of spliffs?
Click to expand...

:D :D.

FWIW, way back when the $/£ exchange rate was 2:1, I bought a USN issue "Pea Coat, wool, man's" from a surplus store in, I think, Wyoming on t'web for about £75. Best bit of kit I have. As a coat, I can go out in sub zero winds with nothing but a t-shirt underneath. Fantastic. only one drawback, there's just two small pockets on the front, but I fulfilled an ambition: that of looking like Steve McQueen in "the Sand Pebbles".
 
Or for a change

foot-donkey-jacket.jpg


Donkey Jacket anyone?
 
Seagreen said:
:D :D.

FWIW, way back when the $/£ exchange rate was 2:1, I bought a USN issue "Pea Coat, wool, man's" from a surplus store in, I think, Wyoming on t'web for about £75. Best bit of kit I have. As a coat, I can go out in sub zero winds with nothing but a t-shirt underneath. Fantastic. only one drawback, there's just two small pockets on the front, but I fulfilled an ambition: that of looking like Steve McQueen in "the Sand Pebbles".
Click to expand...

Sand Pebbles look ?

I've got one of those. Had it for years. Gieves. Weighs a ton. Double breasted barathea wool with 10 big brass buttons, eight at the breast and two at the throat. Can be buttoned up to port or stbd to keep the wind out. Slant pockets. Inside breast pocket. The trouble is...its a bit tight nowadays for me, but even on the occasions it is worn by SWMBO it is very warm she confirms. She has even nabbed my white scarf to go with it.:rolleyes:
 
Michael Foot did not wear a “donkey jacket” at the Cenotaph. This canard was put about by the Tory press but in fact he wore a rather expensive (Jaeger IIRC) “car” coat of the type that was fashionable at the time. My old history master was a close family friend and when he brought a group of us up to London for one of the early Vietnam War demonstrations we stayed at Foot’s house in Hampstead. He and his wife Jill Craigie were very kind to us. He was a much better leader of the Labour Party than he was given credit for, and probably the only leader who could have held it together at the time.
 
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