Fashion Files | The Trench Coat

The  mercury has definitely dipped here in Houston.  For some of you, that happened months ago, but this is one of the perks of living in Texas for me.  One of the few things I like about these cooler temperatures, is that I get to break out my trench coat.  There's something so classy and sexy about a woman in a trench coat and pumps. 

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Last fall, I unintentionally caused a bit of a stir in the lobby of my office building.  I walked out of my building to go to lunch wearing my trench coat over a dress with some black pumps.  I noticed a group of suits talking in the lobby, I'm guessing they were senior management.  They literally stopped their conversation and stared at me as I walked pass.  Confused by what just happened, I stopped by a male co-workers desk on my way back to get his insight.  He took a look at me and said "It's the trench coat".  He went on to explain that men are visual and since they couldn't really see what was underneath (my coat was longer than my dress), their imaginations were most likely running a muck.  Hmmm...Interesting

Back to regularly scheduled programming.

Did you know this iconic piece was actually invented for soldiers?  Or that there is a debate on who actually invented the trench coat?   Burberry and Aquascutum both claim to have “invented” the trench coat, Burberry’s first trench was in 1901, whereas Aquascutum’s design dates back to 1850.  I'm not going to pick sides on this debate, but what we do know is that  Thomas Burberry invented gabardine in 1880, the fabric used to construct most trench coats. Soldiers wore trench coats, made by both by Burberry and Acquascutum, over their uniforms in World War I.  It is said that the shoulder straps were for insignia and that the D rings were used to attach hand grenades.   It wasn’t until after the war that the trench coat began being worn by civilians.

The trench coat has come a long way.  Here a few images of some amazing coats with a modern twist.  My favorite is the "cape like" rendition worn by Victoria Beckham.  Which one do you LOVE?

Image Sources: one | two | three | four | five