Ulster coat

A 1903 fashion plate of an Ulster, showing how the forearms can be brought under the cape.

The Ulster is a Victorian working daytime overcoat, with a cape and sleeves.

The Ulster is distinguished from the Inverness coat by the length of the cape. In the Ulster, the cape only reaches just past the elbows, allowing free movement of the forearms. In the Inverness coat, the cape is as long as the sleeves, and eventually replaced the sleeves in the Inverness cape. It was commonly worn by coachmen who would be seated outdoors in bad weather for long periods, but needed to use their arms to hold reins.

Often made of hard-wearing fabrics, such as herringbone tweed, it was not a formal coat at the time, though in the 20th century a cape would be seen as such. It began to lose its cape in the 1890s, and now rarely has a cape, but continued to be used as a heavy-duty overcoat, often in a double-breasted style.[1]

A lightweight version of this coat is called an ulsterette.[2]

  1. ^ "The Ulster Overcoat". 23 March 2010.
  2. ^ Lewandowski, Elizabeth J. (2011). The Complete Costume Dictionary. Scarecrow Press. p. 304. ISBN 9780810840041.