Fleming's Pea Coat
IanT
Posts: 573MI6 Agent
I have to admit to being a bit of a fan of the Billy Reid, but I happened on an article about Fleming's pea coat on The Suits of James Bond...
"Though Ian Fleming never included the pea coat as part of James Bond’s wardrobe in his novels, Fleming himself wore a pea coat as a Royal Navy officer during the Second World War. This pea coat was sold at Bonham’s on New Bond Street in London on 22 November 2011 for £13,750. The dark navy double-breasted coat has eight buttons with four to button. It has single-button cuffs, and the shawl collar and vertical outside front pocket welts are trimmed in a ribbed knit stretch fabric. The buttons are made of black horn, and the lining is scarlet.
According to the auction listing, Commander Fleming wore this pea coat during the Dieppe Raid of 1942 whilst he was serving in the Naval Intelligence Division. The coat was later given to Ivar Bryce, a friend of Fleming’s since his school days at Eton. Bryce’s middle name was Felix, and Fleming gave his name to Bond’s ally and best friend CIA agent Felix Leiter. The pea coat was shown at For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming and James Bond Exhibition, which celebrated the centenary of Ian Fleming’s birth, at Imperial War Museum London from April 2008 to March 2009. You can see more about the pea coat at the auction listing on Bonham’s website.
It wasn’t until the film Casino Royale that the film Bond wears a pea coat. Later, the film Bond wears another pea coat in Skyfall. Though the pea coat doesn’t have any earlier history with Bond in the films or the books, it’s quite an appropriate casual coat for a former naval officer, and Fleming himself wore one." From "The Suits of James Bond" website - which is excellent!
What do you think? Personally, I think it looks quite good but before I find a tailor to make one, I wondered what your thoughts were.
Do I go for this style, or a more conventional style?
"Though Ian Fleming never included the pea coat as part of James Bond’s wardrobe in his novels, Fleming himself wore a pea coat as a Royal Navy officer during the Second World War. This pea coat was sold at Bonham’s on New Bond Street in London on 22 November 2011 for £13,750. The dark navy double-breasted coat has eight buttons with four to button. It has single-button cuffs, and the shawl collar and vertical outside front pocket welts are trimmed in a ribbed knit stretch fabric. The buttons are made of black horn, and the lining is scarlet.
According to the auction listing, Commander Fleming wore this pea coat during the Dieppe Raid of 1942 whilst he was serving in the Naval Intelligence Division. The coat was later given to Ivar Bryce, a friend of Fleming’s since his school days at Eton. Bryce’s middle name was Felix, and Fleming gave his name to Bond’s ally and best friend CIA agent Felix Leiter. The pea coat was shown at For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming and James Bond Exhibition, which celebrated the centenary of Ian Fleming’s birth, at Imperial War Museum London from April 2008 to March 2009. You can see more about the pea coat at the auction listing on Bonham’s website.
It wasn’t until the film Casino Royale that the film Bond wears a pea coat. Later, the film Bond wears another pea coat in Skyfall. Though the pea coat doesn’t have any earlier history with Bond in the films or the books, it’s quite an appropriate casual coat for a former naval officer, and Fleming himself wore one." From "The Suits of James Bond" website - which is excellent!
What do you think? Personally, I think it looks quite good but before I find a tailor to make one, I wondered what your thoughts were.
Do I go for this style, or a more conventional style?
Comments
http://thesuitsofjamesbond.com/ian-flemings-pea-coat/
I would appreciate it if you didn't re-post my entire article here. But I'm glad you like my site!
If you like this pea coat, I can't see any reason why not to replicate the style.
I personally prefer this over the Billy Reid coat, due to the Billy Reid coat's narrow peaked lapels. Peaked lapels on a pea coat seem odd to me since they aren't the most practical. Fleming's pea coat has a huge collar that can be turned up for extra warmth, and the BR coat can't close like on a more traditional pea coat that has an ulster collar.
I do enjoy losing myself in your website, you have a real eye for detail which helps me with my own clothes shopping.
I'm currently bidding on a shawl collared pea coat on eBay at the moment so I'll see how that goes.
Also on the fedora lounge there is a great thread about vintage pea coats that might be worthwhile to read. http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?35824-PEACOAT-DATING