Should I Stop Wearing My Greatcoat Because of ICE Raids?

After all that has been going on in Minneapolis, Jane, Brooklyn, N.Y., says she no longer enjoys the look of her greatcoat and asks whether she should change what she wears. The greatcoat has been a standard piece of outerwear since the 18th century. Originally conceived as a wearable blanket for military troops, it became standard apparel for the British Army in World War I and later moved into civilian life and fashion, its wartime associations dulled as designers reinvented it in new fabrics and contexts.

As the ICE raids picked up, the greatcoat once again took on a military cast when Gregory Bovino of the Border Patrol made it part of his uniform. Between the purpose of the raids and the way he wore his coat—often with a black scarf, brass buttons and his buzz-cut hair—the look reminded many people on social media of troops in Nazi Germany.

All greatcoats are not created equal; context and styling change first impressions.

United States, Minneapolis; Brooklyn

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