“Hussar” Wool Zupan

Woolen 17th Century Coat

You can’t deny the charm and cunning of the Polish Hussars. Not only were these men skilled fighters and a brutal cavalry unit - but some of them even wore huge wings and rode into battle wearing them! Imagine a hoard of terrifying angels of death coming over the hill at you. As an Eastern European company, we take great pride in researching the history of our neighboring countries and showcasing some of the fantastic people that built them... and we simply couldn't overlook the Polish Hussars.

This is a Zupan - similar to a Kafton, cotehardie or coat - which was a very popular style in the 17-18th centuries. Just like a coat, it was designed to keep the Hussars warm in the harsh winters, while still providing them with a level of style, comfort, and flexibility. Given that they were also known for being charming and a little bit fashionable, we wanted to make sure we created something flattering and attractive as well.

This garment is actually quite historical in design - instead of making it more fitted or voluminous with the addition of extra pieces, we decided to honor the original pattern by cutting it from as few pieces as possible. This means that it isn’t quite as fitted as a modern coat or jacket might be - you’ll notice that it’s quite a snug fit at the front, but it isn’t tapered or fitted to the waist at the back. This leaves you lots of room to move around and fight while wearing it - and still leaves the opportunity for a belt or wrap around the waist to give you a more slender look if that’s what you’re after. The Zupan is about knee length, and the collar is quite high at the back and lower at the front, keeping you protected from strong winds as well as looking absolutely fantastic. It has quite a dramatic effect.

The fit of the sleeves is voluminous at the shoulder seam, leaving you with lots of room to swing a sword, dance, and fight your opponents. The bottom of the sleeve tapers down though to be quite fitted around the wrist. The very bottom of the sleeve extends beyond your wrist onto the hand, providing a little bit of hand warmth up to the base of your fingers.

For the construction of this Zupan we have used a woolen cloth - the same material that we use for most of our other coats and hoods. This fabric is quite water resistant as well as warm but has a very smooth texture as well. Even though it’s not a hugely scratchy wool, for the sake of structure and comfort we still chose to line this garment. The inner layer (from the bottom of the collar down to the bottom hem) is 100% flax fine linen (the soft stuff we usually use for our underwear and undergarments), which feels fantastic against your skin. This has been lined using a historical technique, opposed to modern “bag lining”.

The button for this coat go down to the waist, with quite a bit of overlap in between the buttons to ensure that the garment drapes correctly when they are all done up. This means that with all of the buttons looped, you will still get a fair amount of drape and overlap to cover your logs and provide warmth. The buttons are also attached in a diagonal fashion, which means when done up they do provide a flattering fitting at the waist. There is also a loop and a ribbon on the inside of the garment to allow you to better close up the Zupan.

We worked hard on the fine details of this Zupan. Around the edges of the sleeves and down the center of the coat (where the buttons are), you’ll find fine piping lining all of the borders. This cording is made by us from silk fabric, and it creates the little loops that your buttons will loop into. This cording also extends onto the hand, adding a little bit of contrast that will catch the light differently.

This item is truly a combination of historical genius and modern design and is probably one of the most thoughtfully crafted pieces we have made this year. We hope that you appreciate the historical techniques we honored, as well as the creative decisions we made.

Note: wide belt is not included.

To check how to measure yourself please click here.

Please contact us if you have any additional questions.