War, huh, yeah. What’s it been good for? Absolutely nothing. Apart from, perhaps, shaping practically everything hanging in the male wardrobe today.

The 20th century’s conflicts may have been entirely undesirable, but it’s possible that without them, men would still be trapped in a sartorial straitjacket.

Crew neck T-shirts, chinos, bomber jackets; all infiltrated fashion from the front line, and few are showing any signs of retreating, but there was a time when the two were interdependent.

“It’s more of a two-way street than people realise,” says Amber Butchart, style historian and lecturer at The London College of Fashion. “Centuries ago, when military uniforms were standardised, most of the design came from the fashionable cuts of the time.” The flipside of this was the inspiration those military adaptations then gave back to designers, in New York, Paris and London.

Maybe it’s the timeless, functional nature of the garments that so appeals to men. Perhaps it’s the associations with heroism. Either way, it’s hard to go wrong with military clothing. Which is why enlisting these battle-dress staples is mission critical for your wardrobe.

Menswear Pieces That Started In The Military

The Trench Coat

Men’s fashion and military clobber have been close allies for so long that the origins of individual pieces are sometimes murky. As is the case with the trench coat, with fellow countrymen Aquascutum and Burberry both staking a claim.

“Thomas Burberry was commissioned by the war office to create a piece of outerwear suitable for soldiers on the front line during World War I,” says Butchart, siding with the latter. “He then developed a water-repellent cloth and the trench coat as we know it now came into being.”

Today the sleek, belted silhouette is considered a luxury essential and as such has spawned many variations, including long and short cuts, single- and double-breasted, and even modern colour-pop styles.