Talk:Trench coat
From Academic Kids
Evan Morris claims on his Word Detective (http://www.word-detective.com/012000.html#trenchcoat) website that trench coats originally were only issued to British officers in World War I. Evan Morris is a quite renowned expert for word origins, but I don't know about his expertise in military things... some more research is needed.
Also, the article states that the epaulets originally were used to hold gloves or folding service berets, and then the list of berets is from World War II. But the trench coat appeared in WWI.
Furthermore, I think it could be made clearer that the name comes from the trenches (as in "trench warfare").
And finally, (to Hephaestos): I hope I haven't lost any of your edits in the edit conflict. If I did: sorry. Lupo 21:30, 19 Jan 2004 (UTC)
- Two more sources claiming that the trench coat originally was an officer's item only: [1] (http://www.nsnews.com/issues98/w112398/trench.html) and Burberry (http://www.burberryplc.com/burberry/overview/history/). Lupo 10:22, 22 Jan 2004 (UTC)
Why do we say that the epaulettes were added in order to hold hats and gloves? Certainly they can be used for that, but I don't think it's their intended purpose. After all, if you were designing a coat and decided to add a device for holding gloves, you're unlikely to think "I know! I'll add these little straps on the shoulders - they'll be perfect for the job." Surely the epaulettes are intended to hold badges of rank, as on most other military uniform? --Pete
Epaulets.
Hi. Michael Reiter, here.
Yes, epaulets were used as a means of holding onto gloves, or one's folding service cap/glengarry (bonnet) when they weren't needed yet... I said that in an earlier version of this article, basing my observation on some photographs, and old motion picture footage from those eras.
- Yes, I know that people *did* use them to hold gloves or headgear. My point is that that's not *why* they were added. I maintain that a strap across the shoulder is not the obvious solution if one is deliberately designing a device to hold hats. --Pete
