Reverend Charles Lee at Washington, Arkansas

Comment by CURTIS PAYNE on March 27, 2014 at 12:30am

can you tell me where you got the frock coat?

Comment by Charles Edward Lee on April 1, 2014 at 8:59am

A ladt in Zachary, Louisiana made it for me from a pattern by Buckaroo Bobbins. She does a tremendous amount of sewing, specializing in period attire (1840-1865), mostly making uniforms. She said that, of all the frock coat patterns she's used, the Buckaroo Bobbins pattern requires the greatest amount of fitting and modification in order to fit each person's build so that it looks like a nice garment, and not a cartoonish costume. Unfortunately, in my case she didn't have much of a build to work with. I've have this suit now for about 8 years, and it is absolutely my favorite suit of clothes.

Comment by CURTIS PAYNE on April 2, 2014 at 2:40pm

thanks for your response, I really think she did a very good job.  It would be my favorite as well.

Comment by Charles Edward Lee on April 3, 2014 at 12:45pm

My wife is a terrific seamstress, but period construction of a frock coat was something she really didn't want to tackle. I'm in the process of making myself some double-breasted vests, which aren't very hard to make - even for an old ham-fisted fellow such as me. The frock coat, by the way, has plenty of room for all sorts of "boy stuff" in the capacious pockets. I keep a handful of picks, several handkerchiefs (fat old men in southern Louisiana tend to perspire heavily, especially garbed in wool), some horehound drops for my throat, a capo, my no-period car keys, a money clip, a reproduction of a period pocket knife, a reproduction of a period porte crayon, business cards, and - well, that's about all. That gives you an idea of what the frock coat has to offer. After I finish my vests and some new shirts, I already have the material cut out for two more frock coats. Since our trio doesn't perform much, if at all, during the summer, I hope to make two more frocks and pairs of matching trousers. Thank goodness she already made all of the pattern modifications to fit me. Until I started looking for someone who could sew the frock coat for me, I didn't know that this lady - a fellow reenactor in our area, but in a different reenacting group from our own - did custom sewing & tailoring. The way I found her was by dropping in at a little privately owned fabric / sewing shop, and asking the clerk if she knew of anyone who might do that sort of work. She gave me this lady's card; and as soon as I met her face-to-face, I realized that I knew her from reenacting. She's sewn a number of items for me, including two Confederate uniforms. I tell you that long, drawn-out story by way of suggesting to you that, if you need or would like a frock coat like that, there's probably a simple way you can find someone to do that for you. I supplied my own fabric (my wife picked it out - 100% wool suiting, which cost about $45 or so) and this lady charged me $80 to make it and tailor it. So it totaled $125 or thereabouts for the frock coat. Thanks for the kind words about the frock coat! I wish I could take credit for it, or even for having the wisdom to choose the pattern and the fabric and the seamstress; but honesty compels me to save that lie for another time...lol. Take care, sir!

Comment by CURTIS PAYNE on April 3, 2014 at 1:19pm

It's a great impression.

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