Guides

A cavalry coat should sit close at the shoulders and chest, shaped at the waist, with skirts falling freely. The three fit checkpoints, with a diagram.

Cavalry coats were wool because nothing else could hold shape, keep a rider warm, shed weather and last for years. Why wool still beats polyester for reproductions.

Napoleonic uniforms were the most elaborate battle dress in history: national base colours, regimental facings, braid and brass. A complete guide to the era's military clothing.

A frock coat is a men's coat with full knee-length skirts all round and a fitted waist. Here is its history, how it differs from a tailcoat, and how to wear one.

British soldiers were called redcoats because the infantry wore red wool coats for over 250 years, from the 1640s to the early 1900s. Here is why red, and what ended it.

A cavalry coat is the long-skirted, fitted uniform coat of mounted soldiers, marked by facing colours, braid and a standing collar. Here is its history and anatomy.