Trench coat
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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.
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[edit] 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 United Kingdom 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 shoulder straps and D-rings. This latter material that looks like leather was dubbed "trench coat" by the soldiers in the trenches. Many veterans returning to civilian life kept their coats that became fashionable for both men and women. Towards World War II, the trench coat became part of all enlisted men's and officers' kits in many countries' armed forces.
During World War II, the military forces of the United Kingdom, Nazi Germany, and the Soviet Union continued to use the trench coat on the battlefield in cold weather. Over the course of World War II, 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 M1941 field jacket and the M1943 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, shoulder straps (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).
[edit] 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[citation needed] and the subsequent Hollywood image of the black-clad, trench-coated Gestapo officer has entered popular culture.
Early media reports initially associated the perpetrators of the Columbine High School massacre with members of the "Trenchcoat Mafia", a group of outcasts who wore conspicuous black Australian oilcloth dusters (ironically, not actual trench coats). In the copycat W. R. Myers High School shooting days later, the shooter also wore a trench coat. In the wake of these incidents, several schools forbade students to wear trench coats, on the grounds that the long coats could be used to conceal weapons.
Trench coats are often associated with stereotypical Flashers and exhibitionists, who wear the coat in public until they "streak" naked through a public area or commit an act of exhibition.
[edit] In fiction
[edit] 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 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 usually wears a brown trench coat over his armor. Hellboy is often seen in his dirty, tattered brown trench coat, with the right sleeved rolled up past his Right Hand Of Doom
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.
Trench coats are also common wear among various Yu-Gi-Oh! and Yu-Gi-Oh! GX characters, including Seto Kaiba, Ryo Bakura, Zane Truesdale and Chazz Princeton. Those that wear them are usually rivals to their series' respective heroes.
Cowboy Bebop's Spike Spiegel wears a brown trench coat in several episodes, twice wearing it during fights with his nemesis, Vicious.
[edit] Science Fiction
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. Kyle Reese wears a trench coat in Terminator 1.
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.
On the NBC science fiction series Heroes, Peter Petrelli wore a trench coat throughout most of the first season, as did the villain Sylar. In their first encounter, Peter was wearing a white trench coat, while Sylar's was black, in the traditional good and evil motif.
In the BBC television serial Doctor Who, the Tenth Doctor wears a light brown trenchcoat throughout the series. In the episode "Gridlock", he said that 'Janis Joplin gave it to him.'
[edit] Film
The trench coat was a standard feature of the hardboiled detective in countless film noirs.
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.
Many characters in The Matrix film series wear trench coats.
