A friend of mine is going to get a 3/4 coat, a single breasted Chesterfield made by "his Bond Street tailor"- dark blue Abercrombie cloth, with a claret silk lining and a black velvet collar and he had to have this cosh pocket...

I haven't seen pictures of it, yet. He said it's from the Krays or Richardsons, an East End London, gangster thing.

I was curious about it, and I found this somewhere on the net:

Cosh Pocket
Pioneered by East End tailors the cosh pocket is built into a tailored suit or coat under the arm to enable the wearer to carry a cosh without it being apparent to the rozzers and without ruining the line of his suit.
A gentleman can spot the tell tale bulge at ten paces but does not hold it against the wearer, for fear he might get coshed.

http://www.twochapstalking.com/dictionary/2003/09/cosh_pocket.html

The Kray twins (awesome David Bailey picture!):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Kray

The Richardsons Gang:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Richardson_Gang



http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34561


I was wondering if it's originally a "Teddy Boy" thing? He's usually rather into a "Gang Mod/ Suedehead/ Smooth/ Clockwork Orange" style...

However, I found this:

<<The story of the Teddy Boy movement

All began in the early 1950's in England. Some teenagers gangs appeared in the East End of London; they were called the Cosh boys. It was very easy to recognise them. They wore a very special rig : long jacket with velvet collar and cuffs, drain-pipe trousers like under the reign of Edward VII (1901-1910), bright ankle socks and slim Jim tie. There hair were "long" and greased. These Cosh boys terrified the English society : razor attacks, fights between gangs but also against the police, robberies ... After the Second World War England woke up with an headache ! Press needed a new term to describe these gangs which number increased each day? The word chosen was Teddy Boy(s) and Teddy Girl(s), Ted(s)>>

from: http://www.geocities.com/Nashville/7957/historique.htm

and this movie:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044515/

Anymore about this? Horace?