15 Trench Coats That Will Keep You Dry This Spring
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Robb Report may receive an affiliate commission.
Does any item in a men’s wardrobe possess more character than the trench coat? Easily identified by a swaggering silhouette that may include epaulets, a belt and a double-breasted front, the best men’s trench coats can instantly transform the wearer into a film noir anti-hero or a French new wave heartthrob.
But long before it took the chiffon trenches by storm, the trench coat originated in the trenches. In the first years of the 20th century, Burberry designed a long, belted coat intended for military wear and made from its patented, weatherproof gabardine. Hundreds of thousands of these coats would be worn by British servicemen on the mud-soaked battlefields of the First World War, where they earned their lasting moniker.
Hostilities ceased, but the trench coat entered civilian life with much of its martial DNA intact. To this day, many contemporary models feature epaulets that would have originally been used to suspend gloves and whistles, and D-rings that could have held grenades. Fortunately, the only element that modern wearers are intended to battle is the weather.
With spring showers bearing down on us, we’ve surveyed the present landscape to present 15 trench coats worthy of your time, from the heritage-inspired to the avant-garde. Keep this list handy, and you might stay dry yourself.
Best of Robb Report
