New Moon Banana Republic trench

So, as we all know, the cream-coloured trench coat that Alice wore in New Moon has proven to be pretty damn elusive. I’ve never seen anything like it on Ebay, but there’s also a good reason for that: I’ve never known what I’m looking for!

Banana Republic sells a wide range of trench coats for both men and women, though, so I decided to e-mail their customer service and find out if the trench coat belonged to them. I was also working on another hunch: Alice wears two scarves by Banana Republic in New Moon — the one she wore on the morning of Bella’s birthday, paired with a blue coat from Zara, and the one she wore with the trench itself, called a Banana Republic lightweight cashmere scarf.

Shortly after I e-mailed Banana Republic, they replied confirming that yes, Alice’s trench was theirs. Because it was out of stock, however, they pointed me toward an alternative from their current collection. They didn’t give as much information as I would have liked, like the coat’s name and item number, so I e-mailed them back and asked for these things. This was their reply:

“Dear Viktoria,

Thank you for your e-mail . Unfortunately, as the Trench coat has been removed from our inventory, we no longer have access to the item or style number. We apologize for any disappointment or inconvenience this may cause.  As a fashion retailer, we continually strive to create new designs and, as a result, our collections are constantly changing. As to if or when we’ll offer this style of Trench coat again, we are not sure.

Once again, we apologize for any disappointment this may cause.  We hope you will continue to enjoy viewing our latest fashions at bananarepublic.com. If we may be of further assistance, please contact us at custserv@bananarepublic.com or by calling 1-888-BR-STYLE. If you are calling from outside of the U.S. you may also reach us at 1-614-564-2280.

Sincerely,

Shelly
Customer Service Consultant”

So there you have it: in the end, we know about as much about this trench coat as Banana Republic does. I’m surprised that they don’t have some kind of database with their products in it, but I digress. We have something to work on now, though: we can now search on Ebay for “Banana Republic trench” and hope that some day, it’ll come up. Luckily, CosplaySky.com offers a custom alternative:

There are good and bad things about this trench.

THE GOOD

• Cosplay Sky makes their products to fit the measurements you provide them with. That provides a more tailored fit for your costumes.
• Let’s be honest: you probably aren’t going to find a closer alternative than this one. I’ve never seen another coat that has the same venting at the back, the bow detailing on the sleeves, or the unique draping of fabric over the breast.

THE BAD

• Reviews of the jacket say it’s a blinding white in real life, rather than the cream that Alice’s appears to be. The thought of getting it dirty makes me shudder.
• It doesn’t look like it’s made with the same quality and care as the real jacket. Cosplay Sky has some replicas that look identical to the original — say, that Zara blue coat I mentioned — but this isn’t one of them. It doesn’t live up to the original in the sample photos, period, but maybe it looks better when it’s on.
• It doesn’t have any buttons! Alice’s trench most definitely has buttons, even if she doesn’t use them. I feel like I couldn’t use this coat as anything but a costume piece without them, because who wants a coat that isn’t actually going to keep you warm?

So I have to ask: now that we know who made the New Moon trench, is anyone out there going to look for it? If they re-released it, would you buy it? Or would you rather go for the Cosplay Sky replica instead? Does anyone own the look-alike and want to share pictures of how it looks or any further reviews? I’d love to hear from you!

xoxo,
Alice