The Closet Thinker: Best Trench coats

By Justine Picardie Published: 7:00AM GMT 19 Feb 2010

Previous of Images Next The Closet Thinker: Best Trench coats Collarless, £99, by Zara (020 7534 9500); Classic, £140, by banana republic (020 7758 3550); With shoulder pads, £50, by Asos (asos.com)

You may feel inclined to yawn at the news that the trench coat is very much in fashion again plus ça change but the Christian Dior spring/summer 2010 collection contained several beauties in gold and bronze lam that Im hoping will pop up in more affordable versions on the high street. John Galliano cited Lauren Bacall in 1940s film noir as his inspiration think of her starring opposite Humphrey Bogart in The Big Sleep although his Dior trenches were far shorter than the originals, so much so that they almost qualified as jackets.

Abbreviated trenches also popped up at Burberry Prorsum and Marc by Marc Jacobs, looking sweetly neat and zippy; the kind of coat you could sling over a pair of jeans and boots, and still look as if you cared. Which is why there will be lots on display at London Fashion Week worn by journalists, stylists and off-duty models, even if new takes on the trench dont turn up on the catwalks as a kind of unofficial shorthand for saying, "Im stylish as well as efficient, so dont mess with me…

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The trench coats military origins must have something to do with its capacity to convey an air of authority they were originally worn only by Army officers, then on a more widespread basis in the First World War and its association with rugged masculinity was heightened by Hollywood heroes (as seen on Bogart, Bacalls partner on-screen and off). But it has also come to signify a mysterious femme fatale, most notably Greta Garbo, or the sexual allure of Catherine Deneuve dressed in a black patent trench by Yves Saint Laurent in the film Belle de Jour.

At times a British trench coat can be more associated with frumpy austerity than allure, especially when it veers more toward the shapeless mackintosh. Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard were buttoned up to good effect in Brief Encounter, but the nameless heroine of Rebecca does not impress when she arrives at Manderley, swamped in a coat "far too big for me and dragging to my ankles.

There are some equally lengthy trenches about this season Margaret Howell and Sportmax have ones well below the calf and they can be difficult to carry off unless youre as tall as a catwalk model. I tend to prefer the cropped ones, especially worn over jeans, when a below-the-knee version might be too frumpy. Still, theres space for a classic trench coat in every womans wardrobe, just like there should always be room for Rebecca on the shelf.