Frock coat

Unknown

ca. 1840 · wool · Costume Institute

In the nineteenth century, the frock coat became a symbol of British masculinity and even empire. While simpler and less structured than the eighteenth century dress coat, the frock developed into a full-skirted coat mirroring the ideal female silhouette. Although the frock coat's popularity waned after World War I, it was later appropriated by subcultural groups like goths and new romantics as part of a historicist wardrobe.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1840

Medium

wool

Culture

American

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Gift of Lee Simonson, 1938