tweedydon
My Mail is Forwarded Here
- Messages
- 3,060
- Location
- Pennington
TWEEDYDON'S GREAT 2018 TRENCHCOAT AND RAINCOAT SALE!
I have 16 wonderful coats to pass on today, in sizes from 36 to 46!
These include Burberry, Aquascutum, Brooks Brothers, Paul Stuart, Baracuta, Christian Dior, and Jos. A. Banks!
As always, I offer FREE SHIPPING ON EVERYTHING WITHIN THE USA; International inquiries are welcome, with shipping at cost.
Also as always, ALL OFFERS ARE VERY WELCOME!
I have 16 wonderful coats to pass on today, in sizes from 36 to 46!
These include Burberry, Aquascutum, Brooks Brothers, Paul Stuart, Baracuta, Christian Dior, and Jos. A. Banks!
As always, I offer FREE SHIPPING ON EVERYTHING WITHIN THE USA; International inquiries are welcome, with shipping at cost.
Also as always, ALL OFFERS ARE VERY WELCOME!
The coats are listed for sale after the....
....Background to The Burberry Trenchcoat
Thomas Burberry originally designed the trench coat as an alternative to the traditional British officer's wool overcoat; the plans were submitted to the War Office in 1901. The design was altered slightly as a result of suggestions from serviving officers, and it made its appearence as an optional piece of kit for officers--Other Ranks were precluded from owning one--in 1912... Just in time for the mud and carnage of the trenches of the First War. Its extreme functionality--especially the fact that it was made of gabardine, rather than heavy wool, which tended to become unwearable and extremely heavy when caked with mud--led to it being widely adopted in the trenches--and its name followed shortly thereafter,.
But trenchcoats weren't limited to the trenches--they occasionally took to the air as flying coats. One officer of the fledgling RAF writing home in 1919 stated that after he'd crashed in the Channel he'd had to discard his Burberry, but that it was returned to him later by fisherman who'd rescued it after it had been floating in the sea for five days.
The reasons for their popularity are obvious. Voluminous, and so able to be worn over multiple layers of clothing on the frigid Western Front, the trenchcoat was belted, and so no matter how many layers it covered you could ensure a tight fit--invaluable for the narrow trenches and cramped dugouts. The sleeves were also belted, ensuring warmth at the wrists--and minimizing material that could get caught on wire. The belt featured D-rings, used for maps and handguns (not, as folklore would have it, grenades) and the deep interior pockets could shells, cigarettes, and pipes--these were also cut so that you could reach through to the clothing underneath, for items that needed to be kept clean(er) and dry(er).
Protection from the rain was provided by the gunflap on the right shoulder. Despite its name this was NOT used to cover a gun held in a shoulder holster (this was be immensely impractical), nor was it used as padding to protect against the recoil of a rifle (a single layer of gaberdine would serve little purpose there). Instead, this was used to button over the left-hand oversized lapel when this was folded over to the right, thus securely closing the front of the coat. This likely earned its name of "gun flap" from the fact that the coat would be thus closed in an attack, with guns drawn.
The collar had multiple lines of stitching to ensure that it would stay up when turned up; this could be ensured by the use of the "lambchop" throat latch that is usually concealed under the back of the turned-down collar. The collar could further be secured by the hook and eye throat latch at the edge of the collar.
Ease of movement was secured by the flared skirts of the coat, raglan sleeves, and the single vent at the rear. Trench coats included epaulets for insignia to be attached to.
Owing both to its functionality and sheer style the trencoat continued to be popular after the War. Immortalized by Bogie in Casablanca, the Burberry trench was the favored garment of George Orwell, who wore it slumped inside London cabs dashing to the Censorship Department during the Blitz just after the All-Clear, as well as private eyes from the novels of Raymond Chandler to Dashiell Hammet. And, of course, on a gentler note Audrey Hepburn wore a Burberry trench as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's.
There's a reason that this is an iconic item of clothing--and I'm pleased to say that I have 15 to pass along this week! Many of these are Burberry, but I also have Aquascrutum (Burberry's main rival), Brooks Brothers, Baracuta, Paul Stuart versions, and both double-breasted and single-breasted models. And as well as the usual poly-cotton version (this being the standard fabric for trenchoats of all makers) I have a couple of all-cotton coats--and even some Burberrys with the long-discontinued wool or camelhair button in liner! AND I have examples of the rare and desirable olive version of the Burberry trench!
Last edited:
