Audrey Hepburn in trench coat

Trench coats have been used to distinguish particular characters in movies, TV, comics and other famous figures. One of the most famous figures was Humphrey Bogart’s hero character in Casablanca. He wore a Burberry trench coat throughout the movie as did Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Starting from these famous characters, trench coats have been chosen by wardrobe designers to really make a statement about the character and to really make them stand out from other characters in the story line.

Long black trench coat from the Matrix

More often than not, full length trench coats are worn by hero characters that carry large weapons, mainly guns. The long coat allows the character to easily conceal their weapons and to carry any weapon they wish. The immortals in the Highlander series usually wore long trenches to easily conceal their knives. One of the most famous characters who wore a trench coat was Keanu Reeves in The Matrix. Him, and the other 2 key characters wore long leather black trench coats that distinguished themselves from other people in the world they moved in. The long black trench coat that Keanu Reeves wore was used in some amazing special effects as he moved and fought the enemy. After the Matrix series, the black leather trench coat made a definite come back in contemporary fashion.

On TV, many famous characters wore trench coats. In the TV series, X-Files, both Fox Mulder and Dana Scully were known for frequently wearing different trench coats as they worked. The vampire Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer as well as the vampire Angel in the Angel series, both wore trench coats to define themselves. Wardrobe designers cleverly used these trench coats as symbols of the long history of vampires, since vampires don’t age and live for a very long time. Because the trench coat has been around for more than a century, this piece of clothing could have easily been worn in the past as well as the present. Finally, one of the most famous current series, Heroes, had Peter Petrelli, a hero, wearing a white trench coat throughout the first season, while his nemesis Sylar wore a black trench coat. This showed the good versus evil of the two characters.

The long trench coat is a great way for characters to define themselves. It is a very sleek look and gives the character something defining, especially if they don’t have a superhero outfit to change into. The trench coat seems to have become the next best superhero outfit since it still allows the character to blend in, but also makes the character stand out.