If ever a coat deserved the epithet “iconic” it is the trench coat, a garment created for warfare that survived to become an immortal symbol of masculinity. Its durability owes a lot to the movies as it turned into a necessary article of clothing for many a hard-bitten spy or detective, from Humphrey Bogart’s Philip Marlowe to Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau. Menswear designers continue to find inspiration in its unmistakable lines, though some modern trench coats take pardonable liberties with the original, using lighter fabrics or removable linings, shortening the length and trimming the silhouette.
The history of the trench coat
It begins in 1879 when British manufacturer Thomas Burberry took out a patent for a gabardine cotton fabric that was waterproof, wind-resistant and much more lightweight than macintosh with its inner layer of rubber. British officers during the Boer War (1895-1902) found Burberry’s gabardine coats most satisfactory and in 1914, at the outbreak of the First World War, the War Ministry ordered 500,000 tan-coloured, double-breasted coats for soldiers on their way to the trenches.
The details we know so well today were already in place – epaulettes to secure equipment worn on straps over the shoulder such as binoculars; a gun flap to add a layer of protection on the right shoulder; heavily stitched belts with D rings for hanging other pieces of equipment; sleeve straps and storm pockets for added protection against rain. Once again the coat proved invaluable and when the war was over, men continued to wear their trench coats in civilian life.
Designers soon copied the look for women – think Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s – with great success. It has only added to the status of the trench that it is one of a very few pieces of clothing that look equally good on both women and men.
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