Trench Coat History

Posted by MK from adsl-63-194-18-73.dsl.lsan03.pacbell.net (63.194.18.73) on Tuesday, July 16, 2002 at 6:47pm :

I have always loved trench coats. Many of you have expressed a similar appreciation so I will share this little gem I found on the net:

"The history of trench wearfare Military issue to movie cool, appeal of a classic endures"

John Moore

Contributing Writer

THE retro-trend to big band music, swing dancing, elegant cocktails and elegant cocktail dresses (yes!) may at last be what it takes to stop men from dressing like undergraduate yobs and get into some adult male threads.
No contemporary item of male apparel carries such a weight of symbolism as the trench coat and, judging by a recent tour of the racks, this classic topcoat is reclaiming the high ground on turf it never really surrendered.

Invented by Thomas Burberry during the First World War, the original was a belted twill cotton gabardine of exceptionally close weave, treated with a chemical finish that made the coat water-repellent.

Cut higher than the heavy ankle-length military "great coats" actually worn in the trenches, the trench coat retained the epaulettes and double-breasted cut of the military uniform and was quickly adopted as an outer coat for officers.

Versions of it remain in military use to this day and the now rather bland single-breasted, small collared belted raincoat or topcoat worn by businessmen is its somewhat emasculated grandson.

Despite the horrors of The Great War, which ought to have made people recoil from anything that suggested a uniform, military style continued to exert a powerful influence on fashion during the decades that followed. Sold off as surplus in the millions, trench coats became the poor man's (and woman's) raincoat during the Roaring Twenties and especially the depressed Dirty Thirties.

Women's suits continued to feature epaulettes and double rows of buttons, and the trend would reach its apotheosis in the para-military political movements of the '30s, Fascism and Nazism.

The Nazi party in Germany very consciously and cynically played on the "uniform fashion" style set by the Great War as part of its appeal to people whose lives were destroyed by the Depression, economic and political factors so far beyond their control that they longed for the simple politics of war.

Burberry's trench coat, however, had undergone a symbolic transformation. In the vision of pulp fiction writers and film noir suspense thrillers, it became the anti-uniform of the underdog, the morally compromised secret agent and the cynical private detective.

Many of these anti-heroes were characterized as jaded veterans of the First World War or the Spanish Civil War. Alan Ladd in This Gun For Hire, Humphrey Bogart in The Big Sleep and Casablanca, men who had seen war and death for ideals later compromised in political back rooms and came to stand for a new personal, individual code of justice.

As Bogart said in Casablanca, "I stick my neck out for no man." But, of course, he did.

Though Bogey only wears the coat in the final scene of Casablanca, it remains the benchmark trench-coat movie: the fog, mingled with gunpowder, the plane, the urgency, the redemptive sacrifice of love on the altar of the good of mankind, all embodied in one lonely desperate man wearing a military coat from a past war, a man who only a few frames ago answered an SS major's inquiry about his nationality with the flip remark, "I'm a drunkard," now stands only a few feet from the body of the same SS man and tells his One True Love to go with her husband and behave nobly because "the problems of two people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world."

It's the coat.

Can you imagine Bogey trying to put this line over in an all-season Gore-Tex convertible parka from Mountain Equipment Co-Op and a snow-boarder tuque?

It wouldn't fly, neither would Ingrid Bergman and there would be no Casablanca. Interestingly, in film noir, the trench coat became androgynous; worn by women like Bergman, Joan Crawford and especially Marlene Dietrich, it proclaimed the wearer a woman with a past, a woman of mystery and intrigue, usually dangerous as suggested by her adoption of the quasi-military uniform of a dangerous man.

The dangerous man, the private investigator, the secret agent, has been described as a "knight without armour" whose dark quest is the material of the modern suspense-mystery genre in literature and film. By an odd bit of synchronicity, their unofficial uniform, the trench coat, itself has an ancient connection with knightly virtue.

When Burberry designed it, he adapted existing designs that had been developed during the 19th century.

As men adopted long trousers in preference to delicate breeches and silk hose during the early part of the century, they no longer required the neck-to-ankle protection offered by the old frock coat or great coat.

Shorter overcoats in various styles raised the male hemline to the knee or slightly above, tried out single-breasted buttoning (though this was confined to country dress) and experimented with combinations of pouch-pockets, belted and beltless waistlines and rolled or unrolled collars.

Some were known by the names of those who popularized the styles, like the Chesterfield coat favoured by the Lord of the same name, who influenced furniture style as well.

A generic term often used to describe these short overcoats was "paletot" and the earliest use of that term is medieval French.

A paletot is the light silk coat a Knight wore over his armour, his "coat of arms" which displayed his own insignia or that of his Lord, in order to identify which side he was on in a field cluttered with men each wearing a hundred pounds of anonymous hardware and bent on killing each other.

The paletot made sure you whacked the right guy in the melee.

One of the chief complaints of 19th century staff officers about the turn of the century decision to abandon the brightly coloured identifying uniforms of the past, (the British "red coat" and the French blue), was that the new khaki, olive drab and field-grey made all soldiers, friend and foe, the colour of mud.

They recognized the threat to social hierarchy implicit in the democratization of the battlefield. Two mud-coloured soldiers on a confused field are psychologically disinclined to see each other as enemies and more likely to declare a spontaneous truce and identify the senior officers on both sides (they of the spotless trench coats) as their common foe, as sometimes happened during WWI.

The battered trench coat became the uniform of Everyman.

As the symbol of the modern knight errant, the trench coat still packs a mythic semiotic wallop.

When English comedian Peter Sellers parodied the noir genre in a succession of decreasingly funny Pink Panther films, he made a point of appearing at least once in every film wearing the classic Burberry trench coat. It not only identified him as the Detective; it anointed him, however monumental his blunders and gaffs, as the Hero.

If you must have nothing but the real thing, you can still get the classic Burberry trench coat at Edward Chapman Men's Shop at 833 West Pender, but bring along $1,495. Not something a Private Eye would want to bleed on or have unsavoury characters put large-calibre holes in.

Less pricey contemporary versions, whatever their style variations, haven't lost sight of Burberry's original concept, but chemistry now contributes more than the water-repellent treatment; it's the source of the suede-like synthetic microfibre of the coat itself.

Breathable, lightweight, it makes a slightly softer, less constructed coat than the stiff Second World War surplus one I wore for years.

Dunn's Tailors in Park Royal South carries a high-end version for $550, but their slightly more casual, lined for winter, version preserves the bulky look of the original, which only came in Military Size Too (Too big or Too small), at $350.

The London Fog line retains the double-breasted style, belted waist, wide collars and button cuffs, but has eliminated the shoulder epaulette for a cleaner line, since men no longer need it to secure gloves or forage caps.

At Eaton's Park Royal, as at Dunn's, gunmetal grey is the seasonal colour, though they are also available in black, blue and a tan "English khaki" that's a close approximation of the original, for $310.

Eaton's also carries the slightly less pricey Weatherman line for $229 and you can top off the ensemble with a Supercraft snap-brim trilby hat in matching grey or black at $59.99 for a look that might get you followed by CSIS operatives and probably by members of the gender you'd most like to be tailed by.

IndyGear

Follow Ups:

Fascinating - and two questions. - Fall Guy 9:32pm 07/16/2002

Borrow my sword cane!? - Michaelson 5:24pm 07/17/2002

Yep... - Patterson 2:33pm 07/17/2002

Well, I've never been evicted. - Fall Guy 9:52pm 07/17/2002

PS: The record holder should be... - Fall Guy 11:01pm 07/17/2002

Re: PS: The record holder should be... - Indiana Texas girl 4:12am 07/18/2002

Re: PS: The record holder should be... - Patterson 2:59pm 07/18/2002

Quick Watson! The needle! - graml 9:49am 07/17/2002

Sweet! - Fall Guy 10:50pm 07/17/2002

Tobacco is in the slipper on the mantle... - Rabittooth 5:51pm 07/17/2002

"Shall the world, then, be overrun by oysters?" - graml 8:52pm 07/17/2002

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: I have always loved trench coats. Many of you have expressed a similar appreciation so I will share this little gem I found on the net: : "The history of trench wearfare Military issue to movie cool, appeal of a classic endures" : John Moore : Contributing Writer : : THE retro-trend to big band music, swing dancing, elegant cocktails and elegant cocktail dresses (yes!) may at last be what it takes to stop men from dressing like undergraduate yobs and get into some adult male threads. : No contemporary item of male apparel carries such a weight of symbolism as the trench coat and, judging by a recent tour of the racks, this classic topcoat is reclaiming the high ground on turf it never really surrendered. : Invented by Thomas Burberry during the First World War, the original was a belted twill cotton gabardine of exceptionally close weave, treated with a chemical finish that made the coat water-repellent. : Cut higher than the heavy ankle-length military "great coats" actually worn in the trenches, the trench coat retained the epaulettes and double-breasted cut of the military uniform and was quickly adopted as an outer coat for officers. : Versions of it remain in military use to this day and the now rather bland single-breasted, small collared belted raincoat or topcoat worn by businessmen is its somewhat emasculated grandson. : Despite the horrors of The Great War, which ought to have made people recoil from anything that suggested a uniform, military style continued to exert a powerful influence on fashion during the decades that followed. Sold off as surplus in the millions, trench coats became the poor man's (and woman's) raincoat during the Roaring Twenties and especially the depressed Dirty Thirties. : Women's suits continued to feature epaulettes and double rows of buttons, and the trend would reach its apotheosis in the para-military political movements of the '30s, Fascism and Nazism. : The Nazi party in Germany very consciously and cynically played on the "uniform fashion" style set by the Great War as part of its appeal to people whose lives were destroyed by the Depression, economic and political factors so far beyond their control that they longed for the simple politics of war. : Burberry's trench coat, however, had undergone a symbolic transformation. In the vision of pulp fiction writers and film noir suspense thrillers, it became the anti-uniform of the underdog, the morally compromised secret agent and the cynical private detective. : Many of these anti-heroes were characterized as jaded veterans of the First World War or the Spanish Civil War. Alan Ladd in This Gun For Hire, Humphrey Bogart in The Big Sleep and Casablanca, men who had seen war and death for ideals later compromised in political back rooms and came to stand for a new personal, individual code of justice. : As Bogart said in Casablanca, "I stick my neck out for no man." But, of course, he did. : Though Bogey only wears the coat in the final scene of Casablanca, it remains the benchmark trench-coat movie: the fog, mingled with gunpowder, the plane, the urgency, the redemptive sacrifice of love on the altar of the good of mankind, all embodied in one lonely desperate man wearing a military coat from a past war, a man who only a few frames ago answered an SS major's inquiry about his nationality with the flip remark, "I'm a drunkard," now stands only a few feet from the body of the same SS man and tells his One True Love to go with her husband and behave nobly because "the problems of two people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world." : It's the coat. : Can you imagine Bogey trying to put this line over in an all-season Gore-Tex convertible parka from Mountain Equipment Co-Op and a snow-boarder tuque? : It wouldn't fly, neither would Ingrid Bergman and there would be no Casablanca. Interestingly, in film noir, the trench coat became androgynous; worn by women like Bergman, Joan Crawford and especially Marlene Dietrich, it proclaimed the wearer a woman with a past, a woman of mystery and intrigue, usually dangerous as suggested by her adoption of the quasi-military uniform of a dangerous man. : The dangerous man, the private investigator, the secret agent, has been described as a "knight without armour" whose dark quest is the material of the modern suspense-mystery genre in literature and film. By an odd bit of synchronicity, their unofficial uniform, the trench coat, itself has an ancient connection with knightly virtue. : When Burberry designed it, he adapted existing designs that had been developed during the 19th century. : As men adopted long trousers in preference to delicate breeches and silk hose during the early part of the century, they no longer required the neck-to-ankle protection offered by the old frock coat or great coat. : Shorter overcoats in various styles raised the male hemline to the knee or slightly above, tried out single-breasted buttoning (though this was confined to country dress) and experimented with combinations of pouch-pockets, belted and beltless waistlines and rolled or unrolled collars. : Some were known by the names of those who popularized the styles, like the Chesterfield coat favoured by the Lord of the same name, who influenced furniture style as well. : A generic term often used to describe these short overcoats was "paletot" and the earliest use of that term is medieval French. : A paletot is the light silk coat a Knight wore over his armour, his "coat of arms" which displayed his own insignia or that of his Lord, in order to identify which side he was on in a field cluttered with men each wearing a hundred pounds of anonymous hardware and bent on killing each other. : The paletot made sure you whacked the right guy in the melee. : One of the chief complaints of 19th century staff officers about the turn of the century decision to abandon the brightly coloured identifying uniforms of the past, (the British "red coat" and the French blue), was that the new khaki, olive drab and field-grey made all soldiers, friend and foe, the colour of mud. : They recognized the threat to social hierarchy implicit in the democratization of the battlefield. Two mud-coloured soldiers on a confused field are psychologically disinclined to see each other as enemies and more likely to declare a spontaneous truce and identify the senior officers on both sides (they of the spotless trench coats) as their common foe, as sometimes happened during WWI. : The battered trench coat became the uniform of Everyman. : As the symbol of the modern knight errant, the trench coat still packs a mythic semiotic wallop. : When English comedian Peter Sellers parodied the noir genre in a succession of decreasingly funny Pink Panther films, he made a point of appearing at least once in every film wearing the classic Burberry trench coat. It not only identified him as the Detective; it anointed him, however monumental his blunders and gaffs, as the Hero. : If you must have nothing but the real thing, you can still get the classic Burberry trench coat at Edward Chapman Men's Shop at 833 West Pender, but bring along $1,495. Not something a Private Eye would want to bleed on or have unsavoury characters put large-calibre holes in. : Less pricey contemporary versions, whatever their style variations, haven't lost sight of Burberry's original concept, but chemistry now contributes more than the water-repellent treatment; it's the source of the suede-like synthetic microfibre of the coat itself. : Breathable, lightweight, it makes a slightly softer, less constructed coat than the stiff Second World War surplus one I wore for years. : Dunn's Tailors in Park Royal South carries a high-end version for $550, but their slightly more casual, lined for winter, version preserves the bulky look of the original, which only came in Military Size Too (Too big or Too small), at $350. : The London Fog line retains the double-breasted style, belted waist, wide collars and button cuffs, but has eliminated the shoulder epaulette for a cleaner line, since men no longer need it to secure gloves or forage caps. : At Eaton's Park Royal, as at Dunn's, gunmetal grey is the seasonal colour, though they are also available in black, blue and a tan "English khaki" that's a close approximation of the original, for $310. : Eaton's also carries the slightly less pricey Weatherman line for $229 and you can top off the ensemble with a Supercraft snap-brim trilby hat in matching grey or black at $59.99 for a look that might get you followed by CSIS operatives and probably by members of the gender you'd most like to be tailed by. :

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