trench coat
6 October 2017
Hello and welcome back to another fashion post. The trench coat has such a long history dating back to the 1800s, so I have a short and simple summary of what it is and how it came to be one of the most famous pieces of fashion the world. Please read on to find out how I style trench coats.
As early as 1823, rubberised cotton was being made into waterproof clothing for both civilian and military use. They also had an unpleasant smell and a tendency to melt in the sun. Thomas Burberry founded his menswear business in 1856, and in 1879 inspired by the lanolin-coated waterproof smocks, invented ‘gabardine’. A breathable yet weatherproofed twill made by coating individual strands of cotton or wool fibre. The coats were first used in the Boer War in 1895, where Burberry and later suppling about half a million during World War One. When Sir Ernest Shackleton went to Antarctica in 1907, he and his crew wore Burberry’s gabardine coats and sheltered in tents made from the same material. Military tactics needed to adapt to this new reality and so too did uniforms. The colour khaki, which came to dominate British military uniforms. The first experiments at dyeing uniforms to blend in with the landscape began in 1840.
Both Burberry and Aquascutum claim to have invented the garment. Burberry citing a design Thomas Burberry submitted in 1901 for an army officer's raincoat, and Aquascutum claiming to have created it in the 1850s for officers in the Crimean war. Both Burberry and Aquascutum manufactured trench coats for military use in WWI and WWII, as these garments were ideal for harsh weather conditions.
A hundred years after World War One, the trench coat is a piece of fashion that will never go out of style. Today, the coat's popularity on catwalks and the High Street shows little sign of waning. Its defining characteristics are simple and driven by necessity. Protective gabardine fabric, khaki in colour, full-length, belted, double-breasted and cut with wide lapels
Here is how I style trench coats:
As early as 1823, rubberised cotton was being made into waterproof clothing for both civilian and military use. They also had an unpleasant smell and a tendency to melt in the sun. Thomas Burberry founded his menswear business in 1856, and in 1879 inspired by the lanolin-coated waterproof smocks, invented ‘gabardine’. A breathable yet weatherproofed twill made by coating individual strands of cotton or wool fibre. The coats were first used in the Boer War in 1895, where Burberry and later suppling about half a million during World War One. When Sir Ernest Shackleton went to Antarctica in 1907, he and his crew wore Burberry’s gabardine coats and sheltered in tents made from the same material. Military tactics needed to adapt to this new reality and so too did uniforms. The colour khaki, which came to dominate British military uniforms. The first experiments at dyeing uniforms to blend in with the landscape began in 1840.
Both Burberry and Aquascutum claim to have invented the garment. Burberry citing a design Thomas Burberry submitted in 1901 for an army officer's raincoat, and Aquascutum claiming to have created it in the 1850s for officers in the Crimean war. Both Burberry and Aquascutum manufactured trench coats for military use in WWI and WWII, as these garments were ideal for harsh weather conditions.
A hundred years after World War One, the trench coat is a piece of fashion that will never go out of style. Today, the coat's popularity on catwalks and the High Street shows little sign of waning. Its defining characteristics are simple and driven by necessity. Protective gabardine fabric, khaki in colour, full-length, belted, double-breasted and cut with wide lapels
Here is how I style trench coats: