What is a trench coat? Origins, design details and the Burberry versus Aquascutum dispute

A trench coat is a belted, usually double-breasted raincoat with a storm flap, epaulettes and cuff straps, traditionally made in khaki gabardine. It began as officers' wet-weather gear before and during the First World War, and its two best-known claimants, Burberry and Aquascutum, still dispute who made it first. Here is what the sources say, what the details were for, and where the story is murkier than the marketing.

The anatomy of a trench coat

Wikipedia's entry describes the traditional trench coat as double-breasted with 10 front buttons, wide lapels, a storm flap and button-close pockets. It is belted at the waist with a self-belt and has raglan sleeves ending in cuff straps that buckle, which the entry says keep rain from running down the forearm when using binoculars. Epaulettes button closed and were functional in a military context.

The traditional material is gabardine, a worsted wool fabric that the entry says was originally waterproofed with lanolin before weaving. Traditional color was khaki. The coat was meant as a windbreaker or rain jacket, not for sole protection from winter cold, and it was cut generously because, per period advertisements the entry cites, it was sized to wear over the British Warm, a heavier wool coat.

Where gabardine came from

Burberry's own timeline, which is a company source and should be read as one, says that in 1879 Britain had a series of cold, rain-soaked summers, existing waterproofs were heavy and stiff, and Thomas Burberry began experimenting with weaving. The result was gabardine, "a tightly woven cloth that transforms rainwear." The company says it was invented in 1879 and patented in 1888. It also says the name comes from "gaberdine," a word once used in the Middle Ages for a loose outer garment.

The timeline also records that Burberry patented the Tielocken coat in 1912, "widely regarded as the forerunner of the trench coat," fastened with a single strap and buckle and a buttoned collar.

The First World War, and the disputed credit

Burberry says that during 1914 to 1918 it "develops the trench coat for military use," introducing epaulettes, D-rings, a storm shield and a gun flap, and that more than 500,000 Burberry coats were worn by members of the armed forces. That 500,000 figure is the company's own and we could not check it against an independent count.

The history is contested. Wikipedia says invention of the trench coat is claimed by two British manufacturers, Burberry and Aquascutum, with Aquascutum's claim dating back to the 1850s. The London history site Stories of London says John Emary opened a menswear shop at 46 Regent Street in 1851 and, two years later, produced a waterproof wool fabric he named Aquascutum, Latin for "Watershield." It says coats of that fabric were worn by soldiers in the Crimean War and later by officers in the First World War.

Even the Burberry date is unsettled. Wikipedia says Thomas Burberry submitted a design for a British Army officer's raincoat to the War Office in 1901, while Stories of London says he was commissioned by the War Office in 1900. Our reading: both firms made waterproof officers' coats that converged into the form we recognize, and nobody has a single invention date.

Who wore it, and the grenade myth

Wikipedia says the trench coat became an optional item of dress in the British Army, obtained by private purchase by officers and Warrant Officers Class I, and that no other ranks were permitted to wear them. That makes the coat an early status garment as well as a practical one.

The entry also takes on a popular story. During the war the design gained epaulettes and D-rings. The shoulder straps were for attaching epaulettes or rank insignia, and the D-rings were for attaching map cases, swords or other equipment to the belt. According to Wikipedia, there is "a popular myth" that the D-rings were for hand grenades. Soldiers at the front dubbed it the "trench coat," it says.

From the front line to the closet

Many veterans kept their coats after the war, and Wikipedia says the garment became fashionable for both men and women. It credits film stars including Humphrey Bogart and Peter Sellers with popularizing it. Burberry says its Heritage Trench Coats are crafted in Yorkshire, per its Trench Craft page, and hand-finished by specialist tailors, with each shape named after an area of London, among them Kensington, Chelsea, Waterloo and Mayfair. Waterloo is described as "inspired by the original Burberry trench coat" and cut to a long length with soft curved shoulders.

If you want one that will last, the pieces that matter are the same as in the 1910s: tightly woven, water-resistant cloth, a storm flap, a belt you can actually cinch and a cut that fits over a jacket. A trench is also a natural anchor for a capsule wardrobe, since it works over most outfits.

Hype check

The claim on every trench coat page is "the original." No source we opened settles that. Burberry's timeline credits gabardine and the coat's military development to itself, while sources on Aquascutum describe a competing 1850s fabric. The neutral wording is that the trench coat evolved from British officers' waterproofs by several makers, with Burberry and Aquascutum as the main claimants. Treat "original" as marketing.

Our take

A trench coat is a rare garment whose features still make sense: the flaps, belt and straps are the ones the original wet-weather coat needed. Buy for the cloth and the cut rather than the heritage claim, and ignore the grenade story. For a first coat, a gabardine or cotton twill in khaki or navy will do the job for decades.