#flared coat

“The close-fitting coat for both dress and undress was shaped to the waist and continued down to a full-flared skirt which reached just below the knees, although the length followed the taste of fashion at the time. The flared skirt of the coat had three vents from hip to hem...the side vents, to produce the flare, were pleated with four pleats, then covered with decorative buttons. A greater flare effect was achieved by lining the pleats with stiffening such as buckram, the back vent remained plain.”

“The French influence remained from the late 17th century, the tunic and vest was now called a ‘coat’ and a ‘waistcoat’. The coat had become a loose hanging, long waisted, collarless, knee-length sleeved waistcoat. The waisted coat had reinforced skirts with large wedge-shaped pleats inserted and stiffened with buckram or whalebone. The effect was a flared coat skirt which had three vents reaching to hip level on on either side and one at the centre back. Over the hips one at each side were low-set large pockets with flaps. The sleeves were straight, with deep, closed, all-round cuffs, which during the period became larger reaching the elbows. The popular fashion...was to leave unbuttoned to the waist, both the coat and the waistcoat to reveal a frilled shirt front and cravat which was often loosely tied; shirt cuffs of lace or lawn showed below the coat cuffs.”

To start, I found this picture in an article titled "25 things that prove Benedict Cumberbatch is the perfect man". Would you like a side of irony with that hideous hat? You're welcome.

I'm going to briefly ignore the flaring arms of the coat (ewwww) and just focus on trying to untangle the reasoning and wrap of that sweater. I'm pretty sure it ties in the back which is, of course, totally reasonable as most of us dress backwards to forwards. It's essentially a straight-jacket sweater. Which makes sense, because this whole outfit makes out Ben look pretty bonkers.