Buffalo coat

Similar garments were also used across Eurasia prior to the gradual displacement and near-extinction of the European bison or wisent.

Commercially produced coats with sleeves and buttons became popular with non-indigenous people during the early settlement period of the American West and the Canadian prairies.

Their use mostly ended because of a rising conservationist movement intended to preserve the bison, which had been hunted to near-extinction in North America as well.

With the growing numbers of farmed bison being raised since the 1990s, buffalo coats are once again available, though they are much more expensive and many times heavier than modern winter wear made of manmade fabrics.

Canadian political commentator Tom Flanagan wears one daily during the winter at the University of Calgary where he teaches, and in 2013 wore it during a panel discussion on the CBC, which drew media attention.