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The best men’s trench coat is more than a layer of protection against inclement weather. Over a decade ago, I bought my first version from the now-resurgent mall brand Banana Republic. I was tired of sporting cheaply made, garbage-bag-like nylon jackets, and hated getting soaked from the waist down. (Nothing says “I’ve given up” quite like walking around with soggy thighs).
The trench coat’s longer, more traditional double-breasted design—complete with the requisite wide lapels, epaulets, storm flaps, and belt—really tickled my outerwear fancy, and I haven’t looked back since. To help replicate that formative experience, GQ Recommends went deep on the absolute best trench coats for men today, each one ready and raring to stylishly dodge rain, snow, and all manner of sludge for years to come.
The Best Men’s Trench Coat, According to GQ:
Take Me To: More Trench Coats We Love | How We Review Products | How We Make These Picks | How the Trench Coat Got Its Name | Why Buy a Trench Coat Today?
Best Trench Coat Overall: Buck Mason Storm Stopper Belted Trench Coat
For the value, materials, design details, and fit, no one is doing it quite like Buck Mason right now. After completing jeans, sweaters, and tees, the brand took on the trench, and we’re all better for it. Their mid-weight take is crafted from a cotton-twill cloth (treated with a water repellent DWR finish), and features billowy front pockets, plus tabs at the neck to further secure the jacket when the winds get extra aggressive. A relaxed fit and deep vent in the back makes it versatile enough to wear with jeans and hoodies, but also a sumptuous corduroy suit. Can you imagine the coffee-tone look you’ll be serving with this beige beauty draped over some toasted almond-colored cord tailoring? You’d be a walking latte art masterpiece.
Best Genre-Defining Trench Coat: Burberry Cotton-Gabardine Trench Coat
We’ve mentioned the brand six times before even getting to it, which tells you something about the weight Burberry carries in the trench coat universe. The Holy Grail of trenches has been in production for over 100 years—as we mentioned,Thomas Burberry literally patented the gabardine fabric for these coats, and today comes with a two-year warranty, and lifetime repair service (for a fee after those two years pass). This version skips the flashy epaulets (those sort of unnecessary shoulder thingies with buttons) and the storm vent for a more minimal vibe. One thing that’s still there are the adjustable belt and cuffs, you can tighten them to protect that fancy watch you’ve earned. This is the trench coat that can hop from degenerate Pierpoint bankers to art dealers, and yes, even podcasters, without missing a beat.
Best Budget Trench Coat: Abercrombie & Fitch Relaxed Trench Coat
Abercrombie & Fitch has grown up. The company once famous for slapping a giant moose logo on everything is now thriving with elevated essentials (including some of the best jeans under $100), and this trench coat proves they’ve got the chops to go even further. The light oat color is a refreshing departure from tan, and the lapels are wide as hell for a classic retro espionage look, while the tortoise-print buttons call to mind Burberry’s original design, for roughly $2,500 less.
Best No-Frills Trench Coat: Percival Waterproof Auxiliary Greyson Trench Coat
Percival, the British label known for their funky knits, snazzy polos, and recent collaboration with A-List stylist Ilaria Urbinati, also makes a pretty excellent trench. Instead of trying to resemble Burberry’s, as so many brands do, the Percival trench is a slightly more modern, techier proposition. Which isn’t to say that everything is different: The jacket’s Italian cotton blend feels just like a classic sturdy twill, and repels water like it’s got better things to do. With two roomy exterior pockets and extra ones on the inside, you’ve got plenty of space for your essentials—or snacks, no judgment here. And when that annoying gust of wind slaps you in the face, the button under the neck lets you flip the collar up like you’re starring in your own spy movie.
Best Trench Coat for Fashion Guys: Saint Laurent Belted Silk-Satin Trench Coat
If money grew on trees, I’d be out there with a basket, happily plucking hundreds for this Saint Laurent trench. Sure, you’ll find gabardine, cotton blends, and nylon in most trenches, but who else is throwing silk-satin into the mix with sexy, wide peak lapels? Only Saint Laurent. You’ve got options here. One: Go full-on former creative director Hedi Slimane with a tucked-in shirt or striped tee underneath, and Saint Laurent’s iconic black leather Wyatt boots. Or, slip into a sharply tailored suit that’ll have you looking like you just wandered off the set of a Tom Ford film. Whatever’s under it, the jacket itself is a masterclass that will talk to the world on your behalf.
More Trench Coats We Love
Mackintosh Oxford Bonded Cotton Trench Coat
Okane City Trench
Uniqlo U Oversized Single Breasted Coat
J.Crew Ludlow Trench Coat
The Row Flemming Cotton Trench Coat
Man-tle R17Y1 Black Master Shield Coat
How We Test and Review Products
Style is subjective, we know—that’s the fun of it. But we’re serious about helping our audience get dressed. Whether it’s the best white sneakers, the flyest affordable suits, or the need-to-know menswear drops of the week, GQ Recommends’ perspective is built on years of hands-on experience, an insider awareness of what’s in and what’s next, and a mission to find the best version of everything out there, at every price point.
Our staffers aren’t able to try on every single piece of clothing you read about on GQ.com (fashion moves fast these days), but we have an intimate knowledge of each brand’s strengths and know the hallmarks of quality clothing—from materials and sourcing, to craftsmanship, to sustainability efforts that aren’t just greenwashing. GQ Recommends heavily emphasizes our own editorial experience with those brands, how they make their clothes, and how those clothes have been reviewed by customers. Bottom line: GQ wouldn’t tell you to wear it if we wouldn’t.
We make every effort to cast as wide of a net as possible, with an eye on identifying the best options across three key categories: quality, fit, and price.
To kick off the process, we enlist the GQ Recommends braintrust to vote on our contenders. Some of the folks involved have worked in retail, slinging clothes to the masses; others have toiled for small-batch menswear labels; all spend way too much time thinking about what hangs in their closets.
We lean on that collective experience to guide our search, culling a mix of household names, indie favorites, and the artisanal imprints on the bleeding-edge of the genre. Then we narrow down the assortment to the picks that scored the highest across quality, fit, and price.
Across the majority of our buying guides, our team boasts firsthand experience with the bulk of our selects, but a handful are totally new to us. So after several months of intense debate, we tally the votes, collate the anecdotal evidence, and emerge with a list of what we believe to be the absolute best of the category right now, from the tried-and-true stalwarts to the modern disruptors, the affordable beaters to the wildly expensive (but wildly worth-it) designer riffs.
Whatever your preferences, whatever your style, there’s bound to be a superlative version on this list for you. (Read more about GQ’s testing process here.)
How the Trench Coat Got Its Name
Like so many icons of everyday menswear, the trench coat’s story starts with the military. Its exact origins remain a matter of insider-y dispute, but credit is certainly due to one Thomas Burberry, who invented a waterproof, breathable fabric known as gabardine and used it to design coats for British army officers fightings in the trenches of the early 1900s. (Hence the name!) That material, and Burberry’s sketches, became a template that still informs the coat’s design to this day.
Why Buy a Trench Coat Today, In the year of Our Lord 2024?
Over the decades, the trench coat has transcended its military origins to become a trusty staple of civilian dressing. Simply put, no other coat covers as much of the body without overheating it, or manages to be both water-repellent and presentable enough to meet the in-laws. And while the basic appeal of the trench coat hasn’t changed much in a century, more brands than ever are putting their own spin on the style. Legacy acts like Burberry and Mackintosh may still run the game, but hot on their heels are a series of upstart brands just desperate to cloak your fall wardrobe of jeans and hefty-ass crewneck sweatshirts with their gabardine garms.
Read the full article here
