A pelisse
was originally a short fur trimmed jacket that was usually worn hanging loose
over the left shoulder of hussar light cavalry soldiers, ostensibly to prevent
sword cuts. The name was also applied to a fashionable style of woman's coat
worn in the early 19th century.
Military
uniform
The style
of uniform incorporating the pelisse originated with the hussar mercenaries of
Hungary in the 17th Century. As this type of light cavalry unit became popular
in Western Europe, so too did their dress. In the 19th century pelisses were in
use throughout most armies in Europe, and even some in North and South America.
In
appearance the pelisse was characteristically a very short and extremely tight
fitting (when worn) jacket, the cuffs and collar of which were trimmed with
fur. The jacket was further decorated with patterns sewn in bullion lace, often
in a pattern matching that of the dolman worn beneath it. The front of the
jacket was distinctive and typically featured several rows of parallel
froggings and loops, and either three or five vertical lines of buttons. For
officers of the British Hussars this frogging, regimentally differentiated, was
generally of gold or silver bullion lace, to match either gold (gilt) or silver
buttons. Other ranks had either yellow lace with brass buttons or white lace
with 'white-metal' (nickel) buttons. Lacing varied from unit to unit and
country to country. It was held in place by a lanyard. In cold weather the
pelisse could be worn over the dolman.
The
prevalence of this style began to wane towards the end of the 19th Century, but
it was still in use by some cavalry regiments in the Imperial German, Russian
and Austro-Hungarian armies up until World War I. In the Prussian Army the
pelisse had been abolished in 1853 but between 1865 and 1913 it was
reintroduced for ceremonial wear by nine hussar regiments and the Life-Guard
Hussar Regiment, usually at the request of the regimental Colonel-in-Chief. The
two hussar regiments of the Spanish Army retained pelisses until 1931. The
Danish Garderhusarregimentet are the only modern military unit to retain this
distinctive item of dress, as part of their mounted full-dress uniform.
Ladies
fashion
In early
19th-century Europe, when military clothing was often used as inspiration for
fashionable ladies' garments, the term was applied to a woman's long, fitted
coat with set-in sleeves and the then-fashionable Empire waist. Although
initially these Regency-era pelisses copied the Hussars' fur and braid, they
soon lost these initial associations, and in fact were often made entirely of
silk and without fur at all. They did, however, tend to retain traces of their
military inspiration with frog fastenings and braid trim. Pelisses lost even
this superficial resemblance to their origins as skirts and sleeves widened in
the 1830s, and the increasingly enormous crinolines of the 1840s and '50s
caused fashionable women to turn to loose mantles, cloaks, and shawls instead.
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