The Pea Coat: The Icon That Never Sinks
Live Beautifully
Aye Aye Captain!
The pea coat. That double-breasted wool masterpiece that somehow makes you look both like a submarine commander and a man who reads the weekend edition of The Financial Times in a café that doesn’t allow paper cups. It never really went out of style but now it seems like it IS THE STYLE.
Start with the name: pea coat. It’s not named after the vegetable, no, it comes from the Dutch word pijjekker — “pij” referring to the coarse wool cloth it was made from. Sailors in the 1700s wore them to survive wind, rain, and the occasional mutiny. Fast-forward a few centuries, and now you’ll find them paired with $800 Chelsea boots and thick turtlenecks that make you feel like a hot coffee in a cafe named “Anchor & Bean.”
A proper pea coat is double-breasted, heavy enough to block a gale, and has lapels so wide you could land a small plane on them. Traditionally navy blue, it’s now available in every shade from caramel to charcoal. The buttons are usually oversized and embossed with anchors or in some cases gilded brass knobs, in case you forget that this coat was once meant for men who shouted things like “Hoist the mainsail!” But what’s most magical about the pea coat, however, is its ability to transform anyone: Man or woman for that matter. Put one on and you instantly gain gravitas. Even your slouch corrects itself because the pea coat demands a posture and a salute.
The pea coat can be worn with anything. Wear it with jeans, and you’re “effortlessly European,” pair it with a turtleneck, and you’re a tortured novelist. Add sunglasses and wool hat, and suddenly you’re a secret agent waiting for a coded message from Tom Cruise. There’s no wrong move. As with many fashion icons, the pea coat has transcended into the lines of many women’s designers. Its bold drape is often skirted and lengthened for women’s wear, sometimes adding a belt to accentuate the waist and embroidered crest to go along with the thick stand-up collar.
Fashion historians will tell you that the pea coat never really goes out of style because it never tried too hard to be in it. It’s classic, stoic, and vaguely heroic. It looks just as good in a Ralph Lauren campaign as it does on a man walking his dog through Soho or on The First Lady as she descends the steps of Air Force One.
Today’s versions are lighter, softer, and sometimes made with recycled fabrics and many leading brands (like Burberry) have taken the style into poplins, leather and linens for year round nautical style. So next time you see one hanging in a shop, try it on. Look in the mirror. Tilt your chin slightly, squint like you’ve seen some things at sea, and whisper to yourself: “Secure the lines!”
