A duffle coat is a coat that is made out of a material called duffle, which is a material that is thick, coarse, and woolen. The material is actually named after a town that lies in the province of Antwerp, in the country of Belgium. It was in this area that the material found its origin. Duffle bags used to be made from the same kind of material, though nowadays, duffle bags are usually made out of a canvas type of material instead of the original wool variety.

There are a lot of different kinds of duffle coats, though genuine duffle coats usually include at least some of the following features.

–For one, they are usually made out of genuine duffel that is lined with a sort of wooly tartan.

–Second, they usually have a hood.

–Third, they usually have a neck strap that is able to be buttoned.

–They also usually have four front fastening toggles, known by some people as “walrus teeth”. These fasteners fit through small loops to hold the coat closed on the front.

–And finally, a true duffle coat usually has two large pockets with flaps covering them, and is about three-quarter length when worn by an adult.

The duffle coat was actually made popular by the British Royal Navy, as a camel colored variant of it was handed out to soldiers during World War 1. The coat was used again, in a slightly modified version, in World War 2. The navy actually called it a “convoy coat”, though the name duffle coat is the one that ended up sticking.

Duffle coats are actually a lot more popular in Britain than anywhere else, though they are gaining in popularity in the United States, and they are worn in other parts of the world as well. You will just see more of them in Britain, as that is where they were really made famous.

Additional information on duffle coats can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duffle_coat.