References for The 8th Doctor's Costume

[galacticprobe]

Waz, looking at the pics (aside from sending me into sensory overload! ) it's a little hard to see the back of the coat (the tails) clearly. I think I know what you (at least I think it was you) meant by an extra "tailpiece" covering the split so that at times it looked like the coat tails had a 'double split'. But just to make sure I'm not misinterpreting it, could you elaborate on that aspect a little? Maybe post a photo of your coat's tails if you've got that extra tailpiece?

Dino.

[greatwazoo42]

Thanks, Rod!    Once the final one is made and shipped I'll post some shots.

Dino - the coat's skirt half appears to be made of three pieces: a left and right wrap around half and then a five or so inch wide flag shaped piece that drapes over the back where the two meet but aren't joined.  The reason for this design is to preserve modesty of the wearer (so their butt isn't hanging out) but lets the coat split when they ride a horse...or motorcycle in this case.

[Oblivion]

Am i right in saying that there are no button holes on this jacket ?

[greatwazoo42]

You are correct, sir.  The coat isn't meant to be buttoned closed.  In the Napoleonic Tradition the buttons are there for decoration only.

Napoleon was a stickler for his soldiers and officers keeping their coats clean.  When he saw several men wiping their runny noses on their sleeves he ordered buttons sewn on them which would make it impossible for the men to wipe.  After that decorative buttons became a standard.

The coat has buttons (6 in front, 3 on each cuff and 2 on the back) but no button holes.  All the buttons are decorative.  

[galacticprobe]

I've got an idea of what you may have been thinking. Most coats of this style did have buttonholes on each side (although not all the way up the lapels like some of The Doctor's earlier coats). They were usually closed not by the decorative buttons, but by two buttons that were on a short chain and just held the coat closed at the buttonholes, normally the middle one if there were three.

So maybe you were thinking this coat was similar to one like Tom Baker wore, say in "The Android Invasion" (as well as several other episodes). His burgundy and brown versions were similar in design to the one he wore in "Android", but in "Android" it's the only time you get to see him with this coat "closed" and it's the coat on which it's the easiest to see the buttonholes.

The two buttons on the chain just barely hold the coat closed; otherwise the buttons usually just dangle from one of the buttonholes. In this episode the android version of The Doctor wears the coat closed with those buttons after landing on Earth in Episode Four.


(I know it's not the best screen cap in the world, but it shows the coat and what I was talking about.)


And here's another grab of that coat showing the buttons hanging from the bottom buttonhole. (The other button is in the inside so you can't see it, and sometimes these dangle from the middle buttonhole.)

Dino.

[galacticprobe]

Dino - the coat's skirt half appears to be made of three pieces: a left and right wrap around half and then a five or so inch wide flag shaped piece that drapes over the back where the two meet but aren't joined.  The reason for this design is to preserve modesty of the wearer (so their butt isn't hanging out) but lets the coat split when they ride a horse...or motorcycle in this case.

Ummm... I just had a thought about this. I understand the purpose of the tailpiece, and honestly it does look good on the coat in the screen caps where you can see it.

But frankly, as to preserving the modesty of the wearer... I don't know about anyone else, but I'll be wearing trousers to preserve my modesty while I'm wearing this costume!


Dino.

[Oblivion]

Apparently these were the actual spare buttons left over from the original 8th Doctor coat. Only four remain.

[greatwazoo42]

Wow, Oblivion, that's some find.  Can you post some links with more details on that?  Were they custom made?  What is their composition?  Is that one unpainted or were they all like that?

[galacticprobe]

Do you know if that's one of the front/back buttons or a cuff button? And of course, how big is it?

Dino.

[Oblivion]

The button's arrived this morning (having bought them from the owner)  and they are absolutely 100% the actual buttons, although I suspect they were coloured for use on the coat. They are made of a heavy solid metalic plastic, not in fact actual metal as assumed.  Only having four originals (I'm going to use these four originals on my jacket, how cool I intend to cast a mould of one in order to reproduce resin copies of the others needed, a further two for the front and two for the back. Apparently it may also be possible to make a shrink mould in order to make six smaller versions for use on the cuffs. I'm looking into that this week. 

[galacticprobe]

The photo below just triggered a memory. Coats like this, during the actual period, when they appeared to have no pockets did have what they called "ticket pockets" hidden in the seam at the waist (see the area I highlighted with the yellow circle).

The pockets had no flaps, were usually not much wider than the width of a hand, and only about as deep as from the knuckles to the fingertips; sometimes not even that deep. They were really not much more than openings in the seam for carrying tickets (train, theatre, stagecoach [US], etc.), hence the name of ticket pocket.

Is it possible this coat did have such pockets? They would be almost imperceptible. The lighting on that highlighted area of the waist seam makes it look like it's standing out ever so slightly from the rest of the flat waist seam that it could have a ticket pocket hidden there.

If anyone has handled the actual coat (Waz?) did you notice an opening in the waist seam anywhere?

If not, and those making a replica of this coat would like pockets for carrying small things like a credit card, car key, ID, TARDIS key or such (and yes, even a ticket for something) without having to fill up your trouser pockets and having them bulge (since you'll probably have your wallet and other stuff in those), then having hidden ticket pockets put in this area of the coat's waist seam would be an option.

Dino.

[Kingpin]

(Although it doesn't rule out the existance of a concealed pocket) The line seems to run all the way up to the edge of the coat, a lot like on Davison's, making me think it's a seam line rather than a opening for a pocket.

[Oblivion]

Apparently the buttons were coloured green to match the silk lining of the collar. I expect everyone knew that though 

[Rassilons Rod]

I got some images of the costume on display at the Experience recently. The buttons aren't the same. I guess it's hard to know how much of this might be authentic... or not, but anyway...

[Oblivion]

The entire costume is a reproduction