Trench coat

A trench coat or trenchcoat is a raincoat made of waterproof heavy-duty cottton drill or poplin, or in some cases leather: it generally has a removable insulated lining; and it is usually knee-length or longer.

History
The trenchcoat is a descendant of the heavy serge coats worn by British and French soldiers in World War I.The trench coat was created by Thomas Burberry, the inventor of gabardine fabric, who submitted a design for an army officer's raincoat to the UK War Office in 1901. Burberry's raincoat subsequently became part of the service uniform of British officers.

During World War I, the design was modified to include epaulettes, straps, and D-rings. This latter version was dubbed "trench coat" by the soldiers in the trenches. Towards the Second World War, the trench coat became part of all enlisted men's and officers' kits, especially in the American forces: the US Army, US Army Air Corps, and US Marine Corps.

A modern style of trench-coat, closely resembling a simple jacket. During the Second World War, the military forces of Great Britain, Nazi Germany, and the Soviet Union continued to use the trenchcoat on the battlefield in cold weather. Over the course of the Second World War, the trench coat was widely replaced by shorter smocks (e.g. the Denison smock used by British commandos, paratroopers, and snipers during World War II) and field jackets (e.g. the M-1941 field jacket and the M-1943 field jacket used by the soldiers of the US Army during World War II). The smock and the field jacket were shorter than the trench coat, and as such they allowed the wearer to be more mobile.

A typical trenchcoat is a ten-buttoned, double-breasted long coat made with tan, khaki, beige, or (less fashionably) black fabric. Trenchcoats often have cuff straps on the raglan sleeves, epaulettes (originally used to hold gloves and folding service caps, such as the Glengarry bonnet), and a belt that may also have two small brass D-rings as a salute to its military heritage. The rings were used to secure grenades, or sidearms (or swords in World War I). Some more recent trenchcoats, more commonly called "long jackets", have no belts, rings, or epaulettes, and only two pockets on either side. This type is more like normal jacket, except that it is usually ankle length.

Post-World War II

Trench coats have remained fashionable in the decades since the end of World War II. Their original role as part of an army officers' uniform lent the trench coat a businesslike respectability, whilst fictional heroes as diverse as Dick Tracy, The Phantom, Humphrey Bogart's Rick Blaine from Casablanca and Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau kept the coat in the public eye. Black leather trench coats were adopted by the Nazi SS as a means of inspiring fear and respect, and the subsequent Hollywood image of the black-clad, trench-coated Gestapo officer has entered popular culture.

Current status

Trench coats or other long dark coats (such as dusters) are associated with mallgoth, Industrial rock and Heavy Metal fashion and musical styles. The Columbine High School massacre was associated with members of the "Trenchcoat Mafia" a group of outcasts with which its perpetrators were associated in early media reports, who wore conspicuous black trench coats, and in the wake of the incident several schools forbade students to wear trench coats, on the grounds that the long coats could be used to conceal weapons.

Trenchcoats are traditionally used by streakers and exhibitionists, who wear the coat in public until they "streak" naked through a public area or commit an act of exhibition. They are also worn by men who masturbate in porno-movie theaters.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors

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Mackintosh

The noun mackintosh has 2 meanings:
Meaning #1: a lightweight waterproof (usually rubberized) fabric
Synonim: macintosh
Meaning #2: (British) a waterproof raincoat made of rubberized fabric
Synonim: macintosh, mac, mack

A Mackintosh or its short name mac is a form of waterproof raincoat,first sold in 1824, made out of rubberized leather fabric. The Mackintosh is named after its Scottish inventor Charles Macintosh: note the added letter 'k' in the name of the garment.

Although the Mackintosh style of coat has become generic, a genuine Mackintosh coat should be made from rubberised or rubber laminated material.

Mackintosh brand

Charles Macintosh patented his invention for waterproof cloth in 1823 and the first Mackintosh coats were made in the family's textile factory, Charles Macintosh and Co. of Glasgow. But in 1830 the company merged with the clothing company of Thomas Hancock in Manchester. Hancock had also been experimenting with rubber coated fabrics since 1819.

Early coats had problems with smell and a tendency to melt in hot weather, but Hancock further improved their waterproof fabrics, patenting a method for vulcanising rubber in 1843, which solved many of the problems.

Throughout the 19th and 20th century, the company continued to make waterproof clothing and by the end of the 20th century was called Traditional Weatherwear Ltd, with a factory based in Cumbernauld near Glasgow. In recent years the company has been keen to establish the traditional rubberised

Mackintosh coat as an upmarket brand in its own right. As a result they have collaborated with leading fashion houses such as Gucci, Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Liberty. The coats have become particularly popular with Japanese women and the company won a Queen's Awards for Enterprise in 2000 for it success in international trade.

External links

• Excerpts from "The Macintosh: the Paternity of an Invention" – history of the invention of latex waterproofing

• Mackintosh Rainwear – official website of Traditional Weatherwear Ltd.

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The Macintosh Raincoat

In 1823, Scottish chemist Charles Macintosh patented a method for making waterproof garments by using rubber dissolved in coal-tar naphtha for cementing two pieces of cloth together.

The famous macintosh raincoat now was named after Charles Macintosh. Macintosh raincoats were first made using the methods developed by Charles Macintosh.

While he was trying to find uses for the waste products of gasworks, Macintosh discovered that coal-tar naphtha dissolved india rubber. He took wool cloth and painted one side with the dissolved rubber preparation and placed another layer of wool cloth on top. This created the first practical waterproof fabric, but the fabric was not perfect.

It was easy to puncture when it was seamed, the natural oil in wool caused the rubber cement to deteriorate. In cold weather the fabric became stiffer and in hot weather the fabric became sticky. When vulcanized rubber was invented in 1839, Macintosh's fabrics improved since the new rubber could withstand temperature changes.

Article by : Mary Bellis

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An Overview Of Raincoat Production

Charles Macintosh was the man behind origination of raincoats. In 1836, he came up with the method of mixing rubber with fabric which was used for making raincoats. The raincoats were thus named after him and were called Mackintoshes in U.K.

The raincoat made during early 20th century were heavy in weight, but by 1940 the lightweight fabrics were been used to manufacture raincoats. Vinyl fabric was used, as this fabric was waterproof in nature and lightweight also. Continuous experiments were done in order to make raincoats of such fabric that could be machine washed, completely waterproof, low maintenance and light in weight. After 1970s there was a boom in rainwear industry as raincoats with varied designs, colors, patterns and fabrics were being made.

Raincoats have distinguishable quality of not allowing water to pass through them i.e. nil absorption of water thus keeping the weaver dry during rainy season. Many styles of raincoats are available in the market like ponchos, waxed jackets, mackintoshes, trench-coats and anoraks. Trench-coats are unisex style of raincoats, cotton and polyester materials are used to manufacture them.

Apart from vinyl, cotton and polyester other types of fabrics used for making raincoats are nylon, wool, wool gabardine and microfibres. They could be used in a blended form also. The chemicals used for waterproofing purposes are paraffin emulsions, salts of zirconium and aluminium (for cheap cotton and woolen fabrics), methyl siloxanes( for synthetic fabrics), resin (for cotton, wool and nylon), wax (for linen and cotton), etc. For gents raincoats in the form of shirt and trousers are also available and for women raincoats in the form of skirt and jacket are found in the market.

Manufacturing Process

The raincoats are machine-made garments. Generally, they are manufactured by using computerized manufacturing system. Here machines are controlled and governed by the computers. The first and foremost procedure in making raincoat is waterproofing of the fabric. In first step the fabrics to be used goes in between through many rollers, then are dipped into a big container filled with chemicals that would make the fabric waterproof.

When the fabrics have soaked the chemicals properly they are removed from the container and further are passed through heating procedure, which makes the absorption even. Thereafter again fabrics are passed via many rollers. They are then cooled down which makes the waterproofing chemicals to permanently stick to the fabric. This yarn of treated fabrics is again rolled into bolts and is passed on to manufacturers.

The raw materials for making the raincoats are cut down into appropriate patterns of different sizes to be made with the cutter that is either electrical or computer operated. Thereafter the lining is placed inside the desired stitched part like collars, caps, pockets, etc, and then passed through fusing machine, which uses heat to put the lining properly into the fabric. Later, different parts of the raincoats are sewn together by the industrial sewing machines.

The button holes (if needed) are made on the raincoats and buttons are sewed, this process is done through automatic machines. Quality inspection of the final product is handled by quality control inspector to ensure raincoats without any defects. Finally after inspection tags are attached by the worker on the raincoats and are packed in poly-bags using automatic bagger machines.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gaurav_Doshi

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