The Trendy Trench - The History of The Trench Coat

The Trendy Trench

The History of The Trench Coat

The Trench coat was developed as an alternative to the heavy Serge Great Coats worn by the British and French soldiers in WW1. The coat was double-breasted, tailored to the waist and flared to below the knee. The belt had D rings for hooking accessories. The cape back allowed water to drip off and the storm flap at the shoulders provided ventilation. The pockets were deep, the cuffs could be tightened and the buttons at the neck helped to protect the wearer from poison gas. Some coats had a warm removable liner which could be used as bedding. Epaulettes on the shoulders indicated the rank of the wearer. During the war, the coat was issued in khaki for camouflage. The first experiments at dyeing uniforms to blend in with the landscape began in 1840 during the Indian Rebellion of 1847. Several British regiments dyed their uniforms drab colours.

The Trench evolved from the waterproof coats created by a Scottish chemist and inventor, Charles Macintosh and British inventor Thomas Hancock (founder of the British rubber industry) in the early 1820s. 

Macintosh and Hancock's rain repellent garment the ‘Mack' was made from rubberised cotton and was intended as outerwear for shooting, fishing, riding, outdoor activities and military service. As the technology evolved the rubber coating became more breathable and better at repelling water. 

In 1853 a Mayfair gentleman's tailor, John Smart, developed an improved raincoat, produced under his company's name, Aquascutum ( a word from Latin meaning 'water' and 'shield')

Thomas Burberry, a young draper from Hampshire followed suit in 1856. By waterproofing the individual strands of cotton and wool fibres rather than the finished textile, Burberry 'gaberdine' fabric was invented in 1879. The Burberry Mac was inspired by the lanolin coated waterproof smocks worn by the Hampshire shepherds. It proved to be more breathable and was popular with explorers, adventurers, aviators and the gentry. When Sir Ernest Shackleton went to Antarctica in 1907, he and his crew wore Burberry gabardine coats and sheltered in tents made from the same fabric.

The Trench was worn again in WW2, but it began to shed its military connections during the 1940s. The film industry helped to make it more fashionable and glamorous. Actors including Humphrey Bogart in 'Casablanca',  Audrey Hepburn in 'Breakfast at Tiffany's', Marlene Dietrich in 'A Foreign Affair', journalists, gangsters, spies, detectives and the femme fatale all added to its popularity.

Today's Trench coat is in various styles, colours, fabrics and lengths, with or without many of its original details. 

Image from Instagram @alexandermcqueen