Abraham Lincoln was very distinctive looking, mostly due to his height and thin frame, but also because of what he wore.
Although Lincoln was not a particularly fashionable man, but like most politicians he knew personal appearance was a great way to make him stand out in a crowd, particularly while campaigning during an election.
As a result, Lincoln chose clothes and accessories with a distinctive silhouette or shape, although the items themselves were often plain and sometimes faded and worn. These fashion items later became Lincoln’s famous trademarks.
Lincoln had a few suits but his most famous suit was the one he was wearing the night he was shot at Ford’s Theater on April 14, 1865.
That suit consisted of a custom-made black double-breasted Brooks Brothers coat made of wool. The coat had a hand-embroided silk lining that featured an eagle carrying a banner that read “One Country, One Destiny” which is a phrase that comes from an 1837 speech given by one of Lincoln’s role models, Senator Daniel Webster.
In addition to the coat, Lincoln also wore a shawl-collared, single-breasted, four-pocket black wool vest and black wool trousers with a waistband, fly front, metal suspender buttons and front pockets with a single button closure.
After Lincoln’s assassination, Mary Todd Lincoln gave the suit to Lincoln’s favorite doorman, Alphonse Donn. The Donn family kept the coat in the family for over a century and allowed souvenir seekers to cut away swatches of the bloodstained lining. The coat was later donated to Ford’s Theater where it is now on display to the public.
Credit : Civil War Saga
Picture Credit : Google
