Some garments are named for what they do. The car coat was named for where it was worn, and then it outlived the reason entirely. At the turn of the twentieth century, driving was less a commute than an outdoor sport. Cars had open tops, roads were unpaved and breakdowns were part of the trip, so motorists dressed for an expedition. "Motoring dress" meant long, heavy coats in fur, leather or thick tweed, often lined with fur, worn with gloves, goggles and caps. Even then, people had strong views on cloth. In 1909 the racing driver Dorothy Levitt told readers to ignore the cry of "nothing like leather" and choose tweed or homespun instead, because leather coats "do not wear gracefully".
