Hello, I was able to test a pea coat from the Breton brand Armor Lux. The opportunity for me to tell you a little about the history of pea coats and to introduce you to the brand.
A little fashion history: the origins of the pea coat
The peacoat is a garment that is several centuries old but it was its use in the French navy of the 2nd Empire (2nd half of the 19th century) which popularized its use. It was already a garment made of woolen cloth, which the sailors made even more waterproof by covering it with a mixture of tallow, tar and turpentine oil.
Ancient documents concerning sailors' clothing.
US Navy pea coat
As is often the case with military clothing, its use then extended to civilian life, notably to sailors in Brittany. It then acquired its reputation over the last 10 years when we saw designers modernize it by bending and twisting it.
Caban Woo Young Mi.
The Armor Lux brand
Armor Lux is a Breton company founded in 1938 (under the name Bonneterie d'Armor) in Quimper where it still has its headquarters. After difficult days in the 1990s (bought by two Bretons: Jean-Guy Le Floc'h and Michel Gueguen), it returned to growth and today employs 550 people.
Beneath the appearance of a small Breton SME hides a large French clothing manufacturer, which notably produces new functional clothing for Paris Airports, the SNCF and the National Police.
But what are clothing intended for the general public worth?
Testing an Armor Lux pea coat
We now move on to the test: is the quality there for this good old brand from the country of Breizh?
Once the pea coat was on my shoulders, I immediately made two observations:
- Wow, it fits (very) large!
- Wow (bis), it’s warm!
So we might as well warn you, take a good size smaller than what you usually wear ! I took a 46 even though I'm usually between 46 and 48. And I'm far from filling it. I will say that Armor Lux is a little more than 1 size larger than usual. But this is not a problem in itself, you just need to know it in advance: choose a size smaller than yours !
Very nice piece, but the size is too big for me.
Second surprise, the warmth and thickness of the wool . We are indeed on a real functional garment, the kind of coat that we are very happy to have when the weather is gray.
We find this functionality in the details of the product: deep, zipped pockets, a generous collar that can be folded over the neck to protect against the cold and rain, and then of course... a very beautiful material, but I'll come back to it...
A generous collar for protection.
Pretty tone-on-tone marine buttons.
What about the interior? A fairly classic liner, but we don't need more.
On the other hand, other finishes , such as another zipped pocket (ideal for placing the pea coat on a chair without losing your change and your papers), and the same level of finish everywhere.
Fateful step for this type of clothing: testing the quality of the wool! You know we don't joke with the quality of materials, and that's good because Armor Lux doesn't either. We are of course on 100% wool, and I think the photos speak for themselves: observe the pretty indigo color of the wool, and how it takes on the light.
It is also very soft: it is a priori a 10/10 for wool...
A deep color that only beautiful wool can offer.
But there is still one thing to check, and we waited until it rained to publish the article: check the waterproofness of the peacoat!
Yes, it’s still essential for rain gear. So I went out for a little walk in the gray, and I noticed that the wool used actually had very good water-repellent qualities.
We can clearly see the raindrops remaining in the form of small pearls.
By blowing on it, they slide on the material and are not absorbed.
In conclusion, I am really very satisfied with the quality of Armor Lux products. The brand does not usurp its reputation for beautiful everyday clothing designed to last, and certainly does not try to overdo it.
Price-wise, we're at €299 for the pea coat that I tried (navy color, available HERE ). It is therefore very good value for money given the care taken in making the piece and its durability.
