Vintage 1950s French Canadienne Mackinaw Coat, Canvas with Mouton Collar

Made in France in the 1950s, this canadienne is cut from tan cotton canvas and finished with a deep shawl collar of mouton. In France the canadienne was the working man's winter coat and, by the 1950s, very much the fashionable one too.

Its story starts on the Great Lakes. In November 1811, at Fort St. Joseph, Captain Charles Roberts of the British Army found he couldn't get winter greatcoats for his men, so he had forty coats sewn from Hudson's Bay point blankets instead. The mackinaw, as it became known, turned into the winter coat of trappers, lumbermen and farmers across North America, and in France its descendants took the name canadienne. By the 1950s the French canadienne was a long, weatherproof coat in canvas or leather, worn by farmers, drivers and workmen alike.

This coat is a fine example of the French version. Its collar is mouton, sheepskin processed to look like beaver or seal, and it has the dense, glossy pile that made mouton so popular, shading naturally from honey to deep brown. Turned up, it closes around the neck against the wind. Left open, it lies across the chest in a broad shawl.

Around it, the canvas has faded softly with age to a warm tan, set off by small details in brown leather. A piped seam runs across the chest yoke, arrowhead tacks finish the top and bottom of the slanted chest pockets, and leather corners sit on the flapped pockets below. The front closes double-breasted with buttons on fabric tabs, and a canvas belt runs through a leather keeper to a double D-ring, so the coat can be drawn in at the waist. Inside, it is lined in cotton twill, with a buttoned tab at the neck to close the collar high.

A French coat from the decade the canadienne made its name, with a history that runs back to a frontier fort in 1811.

Condition & Restoration

Excellent vintage condition for its age.

The canvas is strong and clean, with only soft, even fading from wear. There are a few light marks, a tiny pull on the left sleeve and a small pulled thread on the lower front panel. None of these affect the integrity of the coat, and they blend into the texture of the canvas so well that they're hard to notice unless pointed out. The mouton collar is full and soft. All buttons, the belt and the D-rings are present and working, and the lining is complete.

Professionally cleaned in-house, with the mouton collar brought back to its full, soft pile.

Key Features

• 1950s French canadienne
• Tan cotton canvas
• Mouton shawl collar with natural honey-to-brown shading
• Double-breasted front with buttons on fabric tabs
• Brown leather piping across the chest yoke
• Slanted chest pockets with leather arrowhead tacks
• Flapped lower pockets with leather corners
• Canvas belt with double D-ring and leather keeper
• Buttoned collar tab
• Cotton twill lining
• Size L

Garment Measurements, Laid Flat

• Chest, armpit to armpit: 25" / 63.5 cm
• Shoulders, seam to seam: 20.5" / 52 cm
• Sleeve, shoulder seam to cuff: 24.5" / 62 cm
• Underarm seam to cuff: 18" / 45.5 cm
• Back length, base of collar to hem: 32.5" / 82.5 cm

Best suited to: 44" chest / Size L

Fit: A generous, straight cut with room to layer underneath.

For the best indication of sizing, please compare the measurements above with a similar coat you already own. For any sizing questions, please get in touch.