Abstract: A protective garment such as a coat or trousers adapted to be worn by firefighters and the like includes a torso-covering portion and an appendage-covering portion connected to the torso-covering portion, the appendage-covering portion having a generally rectangular aperture adapted to be positioned about at least a portion of a flexible joint of the appendage. The aperture has two significant dimensions perpendicular to each other and with a periphery and is filled with an insert secured to the appendage-covering portion about its periphery. The insert has a dimension in one direction which is greater than the dimension of the aperture in the same direction when the insert is secured in the aperture.