The direction of each coat stayed exactly where it was. Almost everything else got taken apart and looked at again. Here's what changed, why, and what the first finished samples look like.
Where we started
If you read What Is a Car Coat?, you already know the short version. The horsehide coat came before the name. And it came in two kinds from the start, often on the same catalog page. One long and pared down. One shorter, with pockets and a belt.
Our two car coats sit one on each side of that line. When we sat down to rework them, that was the one thing we agreed not to touch. The long one would stay quiet and let its shape do the talking. The short one would keep its pockets and its belt, and stay short.
They have names now, too. Coachwork for the long one, Bayshore for the short one. Both come from the same years as those catalog pages, and each one says something about the coat it's on. More on that below.
Everything else was open. We went back through what customers told us about the last version, and changed the leather, the pattern, and most of the details.
The leather: about 1.2mm, and broken in before it reaches you
Both coats use the latest version of Padova tea-core horsehide. Two things are different from before.
Weight. We kept the hide at about 1.2mm. Thick enough to feel like a horsehide coat, without chasing the heaviest hide we could get. The point was a coat that's comfortable to wear all day.
Surface. The finish was adjusted based on feedback on the last version. What people asked for was simple: let the natural grain show. So the hide now goes through a softening step before it's cut. That brings the grain of the horsehide out early, so the coat already has some character on day one instead of starting out flat and glassy.
The pattern: wider, and not just in the numbers
The last version was cut for a slim build. If you had broad shoulders or a big chest, you had two bad choices. Size for the shoulders, and the body and sleeves came out too long. Size for the length, and it pulled across the shoulders every time you reached forward. A lot of you told us about that.
So both patterns were widened for how people are actually built today. More room through the shoulders and chest, without the length growing along with it.
The easy way to do that is to add a couple of centimetres to the shoulder and chest and call it done. That's not what happened here. The curves were redrawn to match the wider shape, sleeve included, so the coat is built for a broader body rather than stretched to fit one.
Coachwork: taking things away
This one follows the long direction. The same idea as that 1929 page: a long coat with very little on the front. It isn't a copy of that coat or any other. It already had very little on it, and we took a little more off.
Why the name. Coachwork is the old word for a car's body, and for the trade of building one. In the 1920s and 30s, a fine car often left the factory as a bare chassis, and a separate coachbuilder drew and built the body on top of it. Panels, proportions, the line from front to back. That's the part of this coat we cared about most. There's almost nothing on the surface, so the cut has to carry it. The name is a nod to that kind of work. It isn't a claim about where the coat came from.
What changed
- The chest pocket is gone. The front is cleaner without it, and the yoke and buttons carry the whole look now.
- Thinner edges, by hand. Wherever leather folds over at a seam, the edge is shaved down by hand. It's slow, and it's the reason the seams look neat instead of bulky.
- A new cuff, new pocket stitching. Both redrawn to sit with the plainer front.
- The little strip at the back of the collar is gone. The last version had a small leather strip over exposed stitching there. It didn't fit a coat this quiet, so it went.
Inside
The body lining moved up to mercerized wool, for warmth. The sleeve lining moved up to heavy cotton twill, which holds up better where the arm goes in and out every day. Leather main label, natural horn buttons.
Bayshore: adding, but only what gets used
This one follows the short direction. Shorter, and meant to have pockets, the way that jacket from around 1940 did. Again, not a copy of it. The question was where the pockets go.
Why the name. The Bayshore Highway opened in October 1929, running south out of San Francisco. It was built because the old roads couldn't keep up with how many people were driving now. So it's a name about getting around. Commutes, errands, the everyday miles that cars had just made normal. That's the job this coat is built for: pockets you actually use, and a length that stays out of the way. Nobody is saying the drivers on that road wore this coat. It's about the kind of day it fits into.
On the last version, the front felt a little crowded. So the layout was redrawn from scratch. There are two different chest pockets now, a flap pocket and a zip pocket, one on each side. The front balances out, the crowding is gone, and every pocket is one you'd actually reach into.
What changed
- Chest pockets, one each side. Two styles, spread across the front instead of stacked on one side.
- A hand pocket that sags a little. The lower lip of each hand pocket drops in a slight curve. That was set in the pattern on purpose, to look like an old jacket after years of hands going in and out.
- New cuffs and pocket stitching. Redrawn to suit a shorter coat with more going on up front.
- Brass hardware. The last version had silver-toned zips, snaps and buckles. They're all brass now. Brass sits warmer against black horsehide and the red plaid inside, and it suits the working, everyday side of this coat better than bright silver did.
- Thinner edges, by hand. Same as the Coachwork. It's how a coat this thick still moves easily instead of looking stiff.
Inside
The body is lined in thick plaid wool now. The sleeves get an old-style American plaid. A Talon zipper, a leather main label, natural horn buttons.
Side by side
| Coachwork | Bayshore | |
|---|---|---|
| The name | The craft of building a car body | A 1929 California highway |
| Direction | Pared down, shape first | Pockets and a belt, kept short |
| Leather | Latest Padova tea-core horsehide, about 1.2mm, softened before cutting | |
| Pattern | Wider through the shoulders and chest, length kept, curves redrawn including the sleeve | |
| Front | Chest pocket removed | Two chest pockets, one each side |
| Body lining | Mercerized wool | Thick plaid wool |
| Sleeve lining | Heavy cotton twill | Old-style American plaid |
| Hardware | Horn buttons | Brass now: Talon zippers, snaps, buckles. Horn buttons |
Neither one is the better coat. They're two answers to the same question, the same way they were on those catalog pages almost a hundred years ago. It mostly comes down to which one you'd reach for on a normal morning.
What's next
Both samples are finished. Next they get worn, on more than one body and over more than one kind of outfit, so you can see how they actually sit.
Coachwork and Bayshore. Two car coats, reworked.