Other details. The coat has two in-breast pockets, with the left-hand one placed between two buttons so that, when the coat is fully buttoned up, you can still access it by sliding your hand in between them (shown in two stages above). There is a nice big poacher’s pocket on the inside-left hip - so even if you have your hands plunged in both the outside pockets, there is sufficient room inside to carry everything. There are two jigger buttons on the inside of the coat. One at the waist, as standard, and one at the neck level. The latter enables you to fasten one layer of the coat across your chest, keeping you warm, while keeping the other open. Style-wise this arrangement avoids looking too buttoned up, but it’s practical at the same time (below). In the back there is a central box pleat, to help a little with movement when wearing a jacket underneath. There’s then a half belt, merely for show, with a raised edge that echoes the pockets on the front. And below that, a central vent that can be fastened with two button tabs. The tabs are nicely hidden away inside a fold of the vent, rather than sticking out.
And last but certainly not least, the Bridge Coat has a lovely brass-coloured lining, which I picked to look luxurious without being showy. A traditional bridge coat - by the way - would be rather longer than this, ending just above the knee. But it’s a helpful term to indicate our version’s longer length than a normal pea coat. And a bridge coat would have been worn by the officers on board rather than general seamen, so it fits with the higher-specced PS Bridge, with its cashmere-mix cloth and sartorial hardware. (I should also say that the Private White VC pea coat, from which the Bridge Coat evolved, is a great example of the more traditional model - with that shorter length and in great thick wool.)