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ROYALE Filmwear Shanghai Pea Coat Review

After my experience with the ROYALE Filmwear Quantum Harrington Jacket, it would be an understatement to say I was excited to get my hands on the latest version of their Shanghai Pea Coat. For those of you with shorter attention spans, I’ll get right to the point: Daniel Love has produced another great piece. The quality of the fabric is excellent, the stitching and finishing are superb, and the screen accurate details you want are all present and accounted for. At $219.00, it’s not the cheapest alternative out there for the pea coat Bond wore in Skyfall. But it looks and feels like a much more expensive coat and is certainly investment worthy.

ROYALE Filmwear Shanghai Pea Coat Review
Bond’s Billy Reid Pea Coat from Skyfall and the ROYALE Filmwear Shanghai Pea Coat

 

The Material and Finishing

ROYALE Filmwear has used 100% medium weight Melton wool in a deep navy blue for their pea coat. Due to weight of the fabric, the coat does feel a little stiff right out of the box. Adding to that initial stiffness is the fact that they’ve used two layers of the material for the collar, lapels and most of the front of the coat. Please don’t get me wrong. Nothing about the fabric feels cheap. In fact, the hand of the Melton wool is actually quite soft, with slight nape that makes the collar comfortable against the exposed skin at the back of the neck. But it will take a bit of wearing before the coat really conforms to the shape of your body.

This break-in period will also include shaping the collar and lapels. With the middle button fastened, the peaks of the lapels tend to stand straight up and away from the body. Now to be completely fair, the collar and lapels on Bond’s coat didn’t exactly lay flat. But they still had a bit of a roll to them. You’ll need to work the lapel fabric on the ROYALE Filmwear coat a little to get that same effect.

ROYALE Filmwear Shanghai Pea Coat Review

 

In my review of the ROYALE Filmwear Harrington, I wasn’t shy about expressing my admiration for the quality of that jacket’s finishing. I’m very happy to say the same quality and attention to detail continues with their pea coat. On the outside, all the stitching on the seams and accenting is tight and straight, with barely a loose thread to be found. They’ve attached the buttons securely and they feel like they’re going stay on the jacket for a while. All in all, the pea coat has a very polished look. Inside, the seams joining the black rayon liner to the wool body and down the interior of the sleeves are also beautifully finished.

ROYALE Filmwear Shanghai Pea Coat Review
Close up of the fabric and the interior seam finishing, which is beautifully done.

 

After going over the jacket with a fine tooth comb, I could only find one problem. The stitching at the bottom of welted fabric for one of the hand-warmer pockets had come loose. It’s nothing 5 minutes with a needle and thread won’t fix. But I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t report the problem.

ROYALE Filmwear Shanghai Pea Coat Review
The only problem I could find: the stitching on the bottom of the pocket welt had come loose.

 

In summary: ROYALE Filmwear has gone with an excellent wool fabric that combines warmth, weight and a soft hand to create a true quality feel. And aside from that one small issue on the pocket, the finishing inside and out is impeccable.

 

The Details

ROYALE Filmwear has already released one version of their Shanghai Pea Coat. And judging by the feedback from owners of that version, they got most of the screen accurate details right the first time around. However, Daniel has made a few tweaks and improvements with this new reproduction. First, they’ve adjusted the fit and cut to make the coat a little more streamlined and add a slight flare from the waist to the hem. The chest level hand-warmer pockets are now a little higher and deeper to make them more practical. They’ve also raised the button stance to better match the style of Bond’s coat. And the black leather detailing under the collar and pocket flaps now has a more distressed look.

ROYALE Filmwear Shanghai Pea Coat Review
Closeup of the coat fabric, leather collar detailing and stitching.

 

In short, when it comes to screen accuracy, ROYALE Filmwear has delivered with the Shanghai Pea Coat.

 

The Sizing and Fit

I went with a size large in the ROYALE Filmwear Harrington jacket. And although I was more than happy with its fit, after talking it over with Daniel, I decided to go with a medium in their pea coat. For reference, I’m 5’9″, 175 lbs, with a 40″ chest, 32/33″ waist, a 16″ collar, a 33″ sleeve length, and slightly wider than average shoulders.

ROYALE Filmwear Shanghai Pea Coat Review
Me in the size medium. The fit is trim but not tight. I’ve turned up the cuffs in this picture to show how I will get them tailored.

 

Once again, the ROYALE Filmwear size chart is spot on. Follow their advice and measure your best fitting jacket. Then compare those measurements with sizes on the chart on their website. And pay particular attention to the shoulders, since those are almost impossible for a tailor to alter.

I’ve owned a few pea coats in my time. And the fit of this one is nothing like the more traditional, boxier cut you might associate with this particular style of outerwear. The ROYALE Filmwear version is shorter and much more tailored than you’d expect. And that might throw a few of you off when you first try on the coat.

ROYALE Filmwear Shanghai Pea Coat Review
The back of the Shanghai peacoat. Note the shorter length, higher armholes and tapper from the shoulder to the waist.

 

I think the best way to approach the fit is to think of this pea coat as a highly structured double breasted blazer. Honestly, that’s what it reminds me of the most when I have it on. Since I don’t plan on wearing anything heavier than a light wool sweater underneath, I feel very comfortable with the trimmer cut of the medium. The shoulders are perfect for me. With the middle button fastened the coat is snug through the upper body, but not tight, And the overall length is just right for my height. I have seen a few comments on the forums expressing some concern over the measurements of the waist. But again the size medium works very well with my 33″ gut (damn you Christmas beers!).

As with the Harrington, my only issue with the overall fit of the coat is the sleeve length. At 26.5″ long, they’re about an inch an half too long for me. But this is an easy, inexpensive fix for a tailor. I had the sleeves of my ROYALE Filmwear Harrington shortened and I’m even happier with it now. So I’ll do the same with this pea coat.

ROYALE Filmwear Shanghai Pea Coat Review
The actual length of the sleeves on the left and the length to which I’ll have them tailored on the right.

 

If there’s one thing I can see creating some fit problems, it’s the width of the sleeves. Especially for bigger guys. They’ve placed the armholes quite high, which helps give the pea coat a more tailored look. But that also means the sleeves are narrower than usual for this style of coat. If you have a thing for curls, dips and kickbacks, you may want to ask Daniel about the sleeve diameter before choosing your size.

 

Conclusions

The Shanghai Pea Coat is my second jacket from ROYALE Filmwear, and another winner as far as I’m concerned. Honestly, for me it comes down to three things. First, the coat itself is extremely well crafted from quality wool and comes at a fair price. Second, it’s obvious that a great deal of thought and attention has gone into the styling and details to make this one as screen accurate as possible. And third, I really like Daniel, I appreciate his values, and I’m happy to see where he’s going with ROYALE Filmwear. Now I’m just waiting for his next creation!

 

The Shanghai Pea Coat is available on the ROYALE Filmwear website, priced at $219.00 U.S. At the time of writing, sizes XS to XXL are in stock. 

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5 thoughts on “ROYALE Filmwear Shanghai Pea Coat Review

  • Hello

    I ordered the large size, Billy Reid Peacoat, I need to take it to a tailor,,, to have each side taken in, I noticed the pocket edge goes right past the side of the coat. Can a expert tailor get past this, and take in the side a half inch on each side? Also The wall street shark grey trousers, I know they are hard to find do you have a good alternative web site on these pants? thank you.

    Reply
  • I agree with Mr. Charles. I purchased the RF Shanghai coat and when I opened up my shipping box and beheld the coat, all I felt was “meh.” I too had loose threads in the same spot. If you only have $300 to spend period with no chance in the foreseeable future to be able to purchase the BR on sale, then go for this. Just keep in mind it feels like a cheap Chinese made imitation.

    Reply
  • This is the one jacket not to frugal with. This jacket cannot be replicated, even by the great Danial Love. Save and make the investment in the BR, you wont regret it. IMO.

    Reply
  • That review is spot-on. I too am the same size as you, but 15 pounds lighter around the middle. My sleeve length is not quite as long-ish as yours appears to be.

    Reply

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