Astrakhan as an indicator of poor taste

[mpriestnall]

What is the right way for a murderer's accomplice to dress? What was de rigueur back in the day?

[Michael W Richards]

Even a Mink or Chinchilla coat can look shabby if old, uncared for and on a second or third hand user. Also, shabby can also just mean out of date.

[DJA]

"His "astrachan overcoat" was obviously a Chinese knockoff my dear Ozzy.

[Ozzy]

I was reading something recently about astrachan/astrakhan.

It's a page about the Sherlock Holmes story Charles Augustus Milverton. There's part of a sentence in the story with the following words "in a shaggy astrachan overcoat".

The page elaborates with the following,

"His "astrachan overcoat" (usually spelled "astrakhan") is another sign of Milverton's overstated opulence—a coat made of lambskin with the curly wool still attached. The King of Bohemia wore a similar coat in "A Scandal in Bohemia." Conan Doyle uses astrakhan as an indicator of poor taste; a true gentleman would probably not wear such a thing."

Not sure if it means anything in regard to Hutch and the person he described, real or imagined.

http://sherlockholmes.stanford.edu/2007/notes6_1.html