The Differences Between Toggle Coats & Duffel Coats

The main distinction between toggle coats and duffel coats is that duffel styles are traditionally made of heavy fabrics intended to withstand chilling winds and moisture, and they are equipped with large hoods. Duffel coats were originally mass produced for military purposes. On the other hand, any coat that fastens by virtue of a rigid piece of material that passes through a loop of leather, fabric or elastic qualifies as a toggle coat.

Button Up

A coat toggle is, by definition, a form of closure involving a short, stiff object that connects one frontal flap to another by being passed through a loop. Toggle-button coats are believed to have been worn since the mid-1700s, but the mechanism of fabric closure probably dates back much further. Toggles are considered to be decorative as well as functional forms of closure on coats. The loops can be made of eye-appealing fabrics, and the "rods" can be fashioned from bones, metals, ceramics or wood.

Sailor Style

Defining features of a duffel coat are a spacious, detachable or fixed hood and a roomy silhouette that extends to the knee or lower. Duffel coats date back to the late 1600s, and they were popularized during World War I when they were manufactured to protect sailors in the British Royal Navy from the icy winds of the North Atlantic Ocean. Early duffel coats were constructed with oversized pockets that gloved hands could be stuffed into, and easy-open toggle closures that gloved hands could manipulate easier than buttons or zippers. The coats' spacious hoods were designed to fit over sailors' caps, and their thick woolen fabrication is attributed to sturdy woven material that came from Duffel, Belgium.

Dashing Duffel Coats

Duffel coats grew in popularity after World War II, when they became widely available in military surplus stores. Prestigious European labels regularly produce updated versions of Duffel coats that stress form as well as function, as do esteemed American labels known for luxury as well as performance. A modernized duffel style was saluted by "Esquire" magazine as a "best winter coat" for 2010 by virtue of its refined wool-and-synthetic blend fabrication, shapely contours and elaborate metallic fasteners.

Trendy Toggles

The decorative and form-flattering possibilities of toggle coats makes them popular among women. Yankee traditionalist labels treat toggle coats as staples in their outerwear collections, but edgier labels are known for infusing toggles into their assortments as well. Star entertainer Jennifer Lopez managed to cause an Internet frenzy of speculation just by stepping out in late spring of 2013 in London wearing an orange, fur-trimmed and leather-piped toggle coat that made the world's fashion mavens wonder who designed it.