Trench coat

World War I example

For the film, see Trenchcoat (film).

A trench coat or trenchcoat is a raincoat made of waterproof heavy-duty cotton drill or poplin, or in some cases leather: it generally has a removable insulated lining; and it is usually knee-length or longer.

History

The trench coat is a descendant of the heavy serge coats worn by British and French soldiers in World War I. The trench coat was created by Thomas Burberry, the inventor of gabardine fabric, who submitted a design for an army officer's raincoat to the UK War Office in 1901. Burberry's raincoat subsequently became part of the service uniform of British officers. During World War I, the design was modified to include epaulets, straps, and D-rings. This latter material that looks like leather was dubbed "trench coat" by the soldiers in the trenches. Towards the Second World War, the trench coat became part of all enlisted men's and officers' kits in many countries' armed forces.

A modern style of trench-coat, closely resembling a simple jacket.

During the Second World War, the military forces of Great Britain, Nazi Germany, and the Soviet Union continued to use the trench coat on the battlefield in cold weather. Over the course of the Second World War, the trench coat was widely replaced by shorter smocks (e.g. the Denison smock used by British commandos, paratroopers, and snipers during World War II) and field jackets (e.g. the M-1941 field jacket and the M-1943 field jacket used by the soldiers of the US Army during World War II). The smock and the field jacket were shorter than the trench coat, and as such they allowed the wearer to be more mobile.

A typical trench coat is a ten-buttoned, double-breasted long coat made with tan, khaki, beige, or black fabric. Trench coats often have cuff straps on the raglan sleeves, epaulets (originally used to hold gloves and folding service caps, such as the Glengarry bonnet), and a belt that may also have two small brass D-rings as a salute to its military heritage. The rings were used to secure grenades, or sidearms (or swords in World War I). Some more recent trench coats, more commonly called "long jackets", have no belts, rings, or epaulets, and only two pockets on either side. This type is more like normal jacket, except that it is usually ankle length.

Post-World War II

Trench coats have remained fashionable in the decades since the end of World War II. Their original role as part of an army officers' uniform lent the trench coat a businesslike respectability, whilst fictional heroes as diverse as Dick Tracy, The Phantom, Humphrey Bogart's Rick Blaine from Casablanca and Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau kept the coat in the public eye. Black leather trench coats were adopted by the Nazi SS as a means of inspiring fear and respect, and the subsequent Hollywood image of the black-clad, trench-coated Gestapo officer has entered popular culture.

Current status

File:Trench Raincoat.jpg

A full length clear trench style raincoat.

Trench coats or other long dark coats (such as dusters) are associated with mallgoth, Industrial rock and heavy metal fashion and musical styles.

Early media reports falsely associated the perpetrators of the Columbine High School massacre with members of the "Trenchcoat Mafia", a group of outcasts who wore conspicuous black trench coats. In the wake of the incident, several schools forbade students to wear trench coats, on the grounds that the long coats could be used to conceal weapons.

Trench coats are traditionally used by streakers and exhibitionists, who wear the coat in public until they "streak" naked through a public area or commit an act of exhibition.

Trench style raincoats make excellent raincoats because their length keeps the rain off of pants and long skirts and the large skirt of the coat allows for free movement of the legs.

Fictional trench coat wearers

Comics and graphic novels

Trench coats are used in a number of comics, animated series, and graphic novels. The use could be traced back to the the Golden Age of Comics. Most of the heroes in question owned their creation in earlier pulp detective archetypes. This included Doctor Occult, Green Hornet and Crimson Avenger, among others. John Constantine, the main protagonist of the Hellblazer series, wears a trench coat as an integral part of his image and refers to himself as a member of the Trenchcoat Brigade. Rorschach from Watchmen wears a trench coat. Marvel Comics thief and supersoldier Fantomex wore a white trench coat as part of his costume. During Grant Morrison's run on the X-Men comics, titled New X-Men, the characters Jean Grey and Emma Frost wore leather trench coats. Gambit from the X-men wears a brown trench coat over his armor.

Many of the characters in Frank Miller's Sin City wear trench coats. Comic book villain The Joker occasionally wears a gray or purple trench coat, often accompanied by a matching wide-brimmed zoot hat. Osmosis Jones's nemesis, Thrax, wears a trench coat. Tommy Monaghan, the titular star of the comic book Hitman, regularly wears a dark green trench coat. The Phantom (aka Mr Walker) wears a signature trench coat and a fedora when walking in town as an ordinary man. The Punisher AKA Frank Castle also wears a trench coat to conceal his skull t-shirt. He also wears it when he feels he needs to scare crooks into running away.

The Crimson Avenger & The Question in Justice League Unlimited.

In Garry Trudeau's comic strip Doonesbury, television news reporters are frequently depicted wearing trench coats. The military details, like the D-rings and the collar strap, are carefully drawn, indeed exaggerated.

In the manga Trigun, Vash the Stampede wears a custom-made red trench coat. One of the villains of the series, Legato Bluesummers, wears a white trench coat before he is rendered immobile.

Trenchcoats are also common wear among various Yu-Gi-Oh! and Yu-Gi-Oh! GX characters, including Seto Kaiba, Zane Truesdale and Chazz Princeton. Those that wear them are usually rivals to their series' respective heroes.

Science Fiction

Most of the characters of The Matrix trilogy belonging to the human faction, such as Neo and Morpheus, wore trench coats during their incursions in The Matrix. The Replicant Roy Batty in Blade Runner wore a black leather trench coat, while Deckard wore an original Burberry trench coat. A leather trench coat was used as one of the trademarks of vampire Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Likewise, the vampire Angel, also a Buffyverse character, often wore trench coats, especially during the second season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, when he reverted to his evil self, Angelus.

In the 2002 sci-fi series Firefly, the rebellious Independent Faction of the Unification War became known as Browncoats for wearing brown trench coats in combat (as opposed to the sophisticated battle suits of the Alliance).

In the TV series The X-Files, both Fox Mulder and Dana Scully are known for wearing trench coats frequently. Throughout the Blade trilogy, Blade wears a unique trench coat that has a red interior.

Other Films

Eric Draven, portrayed by Brandon Lee, wore a trench coat as part of his wardrobe in the film "The Crow". Kevin Smith's character creation Silent Bob always wears a green trench coat. Lemony Snicket, fictitious author of the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events, is often shown in photographs wearing a brown trench coat. Carmen Sandiego wears a red trench coat and a red fedora as her main costume. On the movie Jeepers Creepers, Creeper would wear a trench coat that disguised himself. The characters Mark and Ken Gor of the A Better Tomorrow films are also famous for their long, dark trench coats known as "dusters". In the animated/live-action film Osmosis Jones, the evil Thrax (voiced by Laurence Fishburne) wears a black ankle-length trench coat.

In an important scene in Kramer vs. Kramer, Ted Kramer (Dustin Hoffman) tells his boss over lunch that he has finally bought a "Burberry coat." He says, " My hand was trembling as I wrote out the check." This marks one of the rare occasions when a Burberry trench coat was bought with a check, rather than a credit card. The point is that such a coat is an expensive status symbol, thus making its purchase a rite of passage. (in a later scene in the same restaurant, Kramer's boss fires him over lunch.)

Javert

Javert, one of the main characters in Les Miserables is usually seen wearing a french police navy-blue trench coat, both in film versions and in the musical.

Miscellaneous

• The Demonic twin brothers, Dante and Vergil and the character Nero of the Devil May Cry franchise, all wear trench coats.

• Two characters from the game Deus Ex, the protagonist (JC Denton) and his brother (Paul Denton), wear trench coats.

• The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles wore tan colored trench coats as disguises when they had to traverse the streets of New York City.

• The Undertaker wears a black long leather trench coat in WWE.

• Kino from Kino's Journey also wears two trench coats. She wears a much shorter olive green trench coat that is more like a regular coat but still holds many of the properties of a trench coat such as a distinctive military style. Her second trench coat is more of a traditional style and beige coloring that she wears as an outer layer. It used to belong to the older Kino from episode 4.

• Organization XIII from Kingdom Hearts II wore black trench coats with hoods.

• Sephiroth, one of the most famous villains from the Final Fantasy series of video games, has a rather unique trench coat as part of his outfit.

• In the Nickelodeon show Invader Zim, the antagonist, Dib, wears a signature black trench coat.

• In Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, a trench coat with a FOX Unit insignia on the shoulders is worn by the game's antagonist, Gene. In a similar fashion, other notable villains of that series (the future Liquid Snake and his FOXHOUND Unit, who appear later on in the continuity of the MGS storyline) wear trench coats of that particular design as well.

• UK band The Horrors often wear trench coats

• Often, today, in schools trench coats are banned due to the trench coat gang and incidents like the Columbine High School massacre.

See also

• Coat