Chris, to be honest I wish I had gone for navy instead of red now; it's a hard red to coordinate with the rest of my bright clothes and scarves. I'm kind of struggling with what to wear it with. Navy would have been simpler.
Marianna, I did try it with the collar up, and the look is HORRIBLE on me! So that may have been a big factor in why it didn't work for you...
Oh, Angie, you are a VERY BAD enabler! :) I did look for a belted trench and didn't see anything that struck me as the one, and now it's almost too late in the season. I'll keep an eye out now but will probably get one in the spring instead. I did just return a shiny belted trench in teal from Target; a button fell off before I even wore it, and on further reflection it was just too fancy and non-functional for my needs. The black lined raincoat will fill the hole until then. :)