Everybody at GQ Owns This Effortless Spring Coat

It would be unfair to say that the trench coat is back, since it never really went away. But there’s something in the air (or the water cooler) at GQ HQ right now, because each morning, a who’s who of my colleagues arrive at work wrapped in their trenches, protecting their big fits from the elements. Sometimes, it turns out, the best answer to the question every menswear nerd must contend with during the topsy-turvy days of spring—what the heck should I wear today?—is the simplest: a trench coat, of course.

But a good trench does more than simply ward off nasty weather: it acts as a defensive buffer against the precipitous demands of the corporate 9-to-5. “It helps me feel locked in and professional on the gray, miserable days I don’t want to be,” says GQ senior style editor Yang-Yi Goh. This is a coat originally designed for literal trench warfare, which means it can more than handle the battleground of your open-plan office.

The trench’s fundamental appeal, though, extends far beyond its utility. There’s a reason it’s favored by everyone from Wall Street tycoons to Camden Town punks, to say nothing of the mood board legends who swear by it on screen—among the colleagues polled here, Alain Delon in Le Samouraï is a frequent reference.

A trench coat “comes in handy during windy transitional weather,” says Raymond Ang, GQ’s associate director of editorial operations. But to Ang, the coat’s true value is its ability to instantly elevate any regular old outfit. “Jeans and a ratty sweater? Lazy. Jeans and a ratty sweater under a gorgeously wrinkled trench? Kind of chic—even cinematic.”

Delon might’ve rocked his trench coat with a dark suit and tie, but my ever-fly coworkers all gently suggest mixing it up. “Trenches feel inherently dressy, but they look good over literally everything—hoodies, trashed denim, plaid flannels, whatever,” Goh says. In other words, when a fit feels off for reasons you can’t quite put your finger on, add a trench to the equation and soldier on undeterred.

How the folks here arrived at their respective trenches varies. GQ commerce writer Gerald Ortiz picked up his busted ’60s-era Burberry trench at a flea market in Paris. Global fashion correspondent Samuel Hine scooped a Daniel Lee-designed Burberry trench when his vintage car coat (also Burberry) gradually lost its waterproof coating (he still wears it on sunnier days). Associate commerce editor Tyler Chin snagged his vintage trench after a months-long quest trawling eBay.

Which brings me to my next bit of crucial advice, courtesy of Ortiz: “Go vintage if you can”—and make sure it’s roomy enough to layer beneath. (Also, it doesn’t have to be so tan.) “Go long, loose, and flowy with the silhouette,” Goh echoes. “You don’t want a trench that ends mid-thigh.” And when it comes to embracing the natural patina secondhand clothing accumulates after decades of hard wear, Ang succinctly sums up the GQ party line: “The more used and abused, wrinkled and beat up, the better.”

Whether you buy one old or new, calf-skimming long or knee-kissing short, pricey and pedigreed or widely available and wallet-friendly, you really can’t go wrong. Take it from GQ style writer Eileen Cartter, who reaches for her preferred trench, a lightly structured riff from indie menswear sensation Commission, when she wants to feel more put-together. Contra to slouchier jackets, Cartter says, the silhouette “is sort of old time-y reporter, like I’m about to hit the pavement and take notes on a spiral notepad.” What could possibly be more GQ than that?

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