Lapels are the folded flaps of cloth on the front of a jacket or coat below the collar and are nowadays most commonly found on formal clothing and suit jackets. Usually they are formed by folding over the front edges of the jacket or coat and sewing them to the collar, an extra piece of fabric around the back of the neck. There are three basic forms of lapels: notched, peaked, and shawl. Lapels are found on traditional clothing too (see below).
Figure 1: Germany: It is difficult to see them because of the black on black colouration causing problems with digital photography, but this felt jacket’s lapels have been made by just turning back the tops of the front pieces.
Although this is designated as being a Sorb man, his clothing is not conform with Sorbian traditional clothing. His jacket and waistcoat look more like the jackets and waistcoats of the unmarried young men from the Braunschweig (Brunswick) region. (Courting couple from Burg, Spree Forest, Brandenburg)Figure 2: Germany: This 20th century working woman’s blouse has lapels (rather untidy nowadays), which have been made by turning back the tops of the front pieces. The rather basic hemming of the edges is visible. (German hedgehog dolls Mecki and Micki)
Figure 3: Germany: The lapels of this felt version of the traditional velvet coat or Samtmantel of the Black Forest have been made by turning back the tops of the front pieces revealing the red lining (see Glossary revers). Each lapel is held in place by a gold button. (Bollenhut, Man’s costume, Schwarzwald
Figure 4: Poland: The peg doll’s long light-greyish linen coat has a flat collar with very wide lapels made by folding over the coat’s material. There is a brown dot on each of the lapels (significance unknown). (Young student)
National costume dolls 