What is a box coat?
Boxing coat is a heavy clothing to be worn over the top of other wearer clothing that ensures heat in cold weather. They became popular in Europe 18 and 19th century and were originally double breasts and crossed the bearer's knee, although both of these features are not always true for boxes. There were also dark colors. What distinguishes a box coat from other heavy coats is mounted waist and shoulders and wide flaps and absence of the belt. These functions allow the wearer's body shape to show to a greater extent than many other coat styles. These coaches would sit on the front of the coach on what was called "box", hence the name of the coat. Because they were sitting on the front of the coach, the drivers would be exposed to the weather and therefore required warm clothing to protect the tem during the cold European winters. Many of the first boxes also had shoulder caps that would provide additional heat for a particularly cold night.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the arrival of motor vehicles was obsolete, but the box coat lasted. After the beginning of the century, very few boxes still represented the caps and the term gradually came to include a wider range of different styles of coats. Today it is common to find boxes that fall above the knee, and many of them are no longer doubled. The only permanent features that are necessary for something to fall under the "boxes" period is mounted waist and shoulders and lack of belt.
Today's wide definition of box coat has resulted in a number of designs that almost every main line of winter clothing will include a box coat. While men were originally exclusive wearers of boxes, it is now equally common to find women who wear them and are available in any number of colors, from original dark gray and black to more modern bright yellow and pink. Many box coats are now compared to the original DOC coatsEla light, some even come known as box jackets - a term that would be oxymoron when the garment first became popular.