Our wardrobes and attics often hide little fashion and tailoring treasures. The coat in this picture wasn't actually hidden in my own wardrobe, but in Frank Boyle's and it's a coat from the British Navy that belonged to his father.
The label (View this photo) revealed it's a Zambrene weatherproof raincoat, advertised in the '20s as “The Best Rubberless Raincoat”.
Adverts for the Zambrene coats usually featured Army officers wearing a raincoat in rainswept trenches (View this photo) with the accompanying text stating: “The proofing employed in all the garments is the famous Zambrene 'Triple – Triple' proofing which guarantees the cloth to remain porous and self-ventilating and therefore perfectly hygienic”.
You can easily find Zambrene adverts and posters illustrated by artist, painter and illustrator Frank Brangwyn in the collections of war museums, such as the Imperial War Museum.
Yet the most interesting feature of this coat is not the fact that it's waterproof, but a tailoring detail: the pockets were indeed slits that allowed the wearer to reach into the trouser pockets without taking the hands out of the coat.
Would it be worth rediscovering this feature in modern menswear? Probably yes, so fashion design students take your notes and, the next time you visit a war museum, look very carefully at the hidden details in the showcased uniforms.
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