The Complete History of the Trench Coat, From Ypres to Audrey Hepburn
The trench coat was born in the mud of the Western Front, where British officers required a waterproof, functional coat that could withstand the unique horrors of trench warfare — an environment of constant rain, freezing temperatures, and conditions that destroyed conventional outerwear within weeks. Both Burberry and Aquascutum claim to have supplied the original trench coat to the British Army, and both claims have merit.
Burberry's gabardine — a tight-woven, yarn-dyed cotton patented in 1888 — and Aquascutum's waterproof wool, developed since the company's founding in 1851, each provided the water-resistant base material from which trench coats were constructed. The War Office did not standardise on a single supplier, meaning both houses legitimately outfitted officers during the Great War.
Every original trench coat detail served a military function. The D-rings on the belt carried equipment. The storm flap channelled rain away from the buttoned opening. The epaulettes held gloves, map cases, or rank insignia. The gun flap across the right shoulder — a second layer of fabric — provided extra protection for the shooting shoulder and additional rain deflection.
After the Armistice in 1918, demobilised officers retained their trench coats for civilian life, creating the first wave of military-to-civilian garment adoption. The coat's association with wartime heroism lent it a romantic authority that no civilian designer could have manufactured, transforming a piece of military equipment into a symbol of masculine resilience and quiet competence.
Hollywood completed the trench coat's transformation from military surplus to cultural icon. Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1942), Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), and Peter Sellers in the Pink Panther films each deployed the trench coat to different dramatic effect — Bogart for world-weary romance, Hepburn for sophisticated glamour, Sellers for bumbling charm (https://www.aquascutum.com).
The trench coat's gender-crossing appeal is remarkable. Where most military garments remained coded masculine in civilian contexts, the trench coat was adopted by women with equal enthusiasm and to equal visual effect. Hepburn and subsequent female style icons proved that the trench coat's proportions — belted waist, broad shoulders, knee length — flatted both sexes, expanding its market beyond any purely masculine garment could reach.
From the trenches of Ypres to the streets of Paris, the trench coat's century-long journey confirms that the most enduring fashion is born from genuine necessity. Designed to keep officers alive in the worst conditions humans had ever created, the trench coat transcended its origins to become the single most versatile and universally flattering piece of outerwear ever devised. Buy one in the correct fit and colour, and you possess a garment that will remain relevant for the rest of your life.
