Tobas!
Pardon the delay in a reply- I do not view a computer every day; But;
to answer the Good Question.
It is a common workmans coat, by which I mean the coat you would toss on to feed the horse in the morning, cut firewood &tc. It is not a coat for Sunday-go-to-meeting. That would be the coat you would see in an Image of, say, Benj.Franklin. I arrive at the conclusion by 1st reading & then checking the Sources listed in the Pattern I purchased to make the coat for myself, the 1st one i blanket wool, to do the chores around my own farm(& I like more than a Walmart workcoat).
As to View that it has been 'tricked up' I infere,1) that I did the same when I made the coat in white canvass. 2) A long association with 18th Century tailoring tells me the same. 3) If you were to look thru a flock of images of workmans coats, you wil find all sorts of variations on the theme.
Let me use the coat you are use to seeing on a Founding Father of your choice, as an ensample. The coat could be made of plain wool, 4 body panels, and 2, two part sleeves. That is the basic coat. To make it different, the cuffs can be false, deep, or shallow, the buttons can be plain or fancy. Or the Basic Coat can be plain silk, patterned silk, white linnen &tc. The Button Holes can be worked, taped, laced or false. The lining can be plain, fancy, half lined, good facings with common linnen linings not seen. The entire list is Very Long; but the Point, I hope, is clear. You can vary any coat to suit the occasion. In the Occasion of the Pictured Coat, which started the thread, e have the Era of "All things Highland" craze. So it is no small surmize that the coat would be altered to suit the 'fashion of the times'. Look also at other "Highland Coats" of the era, and many, if not all, are variants on the styles of the time, just as the Prince Charley coat is simply a tailcoat, sans tails & with a few 'tidbits' added. And the tailcoat goes back to circa 1800. Does that prove helpful? If nay, let me know.
With thanks for your interest, I remain
Mr.C.Anthony
Historical Tailor