While similar , the heavy metal and Goth fashion trend of black oilcloth dusters are usually ( incorrectly ) referred to as trench coats . Early media reports of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre initially associated the perpetrators ( Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold ) with members of the " Trenchcoat Mafia " , a group of outcasts who allegedly wore conspicuous black Australian oilcloth dusters . In the copycat W. R. Myers High School shooting days later , it was rumored the shooter had worn a trench coat . In the wake of these incidents , many public schools in the US forbade students from wearing trench coats , both because of their cultural associations and on the grounds that they could be used to conceal weapons
Columbine High School massacre
Columbine High School massacre
Trench coat