Trends are cool and all, but some of the most stylish women we know have cultivated their great taste in clothes not by trying every new fleeting style that pops up but by relying on a few select wardrobe staples. As style people ourselves, we like to keep tabs on our what our fashion friends are favoring each season and one staple that always persists is the trench coat. Take a walk around Paris and NYC—two cities with arguably some of the very best street style—at any given moment and I guarantee you’ll spot more than your fair share of cool trench coat ensembles. After all, the lightweight jacket is a useful layering piece during transitional seasons like spring and fall.
Despite the always-classic nature of a camel trench, the staple is being reimagined in cool and creative ways—as spotted all over the runways and on our favorite fashion girls. From upsized silhouettes to leather coated iterations, the trenches on offer right now couldn’t be any cooler. To uncover the best trench coats to buy now and wear forever, keep scrolling for our edit of 24 hand-picked toppers and get inspired by street style looks straight from New York and Paris along the way.
This billowing silhouette is slightly upsized and without much structure, lending it a cool relaxed feel. Cut from cotton-blend gabardine and detailed with oversized notched lapels and buttoned straps that define the sleeves, it’s easily thrown atop anything from a suit to jeans.
Ask any editor and they’d agree that the tailoring from COS is some of the best for its relatively affordable price. I like this straight-cut trench which features all the classic accoutrements of a trench but is ultra-sleek in all-black. Fret not, as it also comes in a traditional beige.
Frankie Shop is every fashion girl’s go-to source for stylish staples, so it should come as no surprise that their trench is equal parts cool and classic. They took the traditional outerwear piece and recreated it in an oversized shape that’s on-trend and unfussy for nearly half of what similar designer versions go for.
We can’t discuss a piece as beloved as the trench coat without a mention of the brand whose gabardine dates all the way back to 1879. The Kensington comes in both a short and long version and of course Burberry’s iconic check-printed interior.
The right amount of oversized with just enough detailing makes this Mango a perfect choice for the minimalists among us. It’s also the pick that’s in this editor’s cart as we speak. P.s., you can nab this on sale by using code EXTRA30 at checkout when you place an order at Mango through October 3.
Not every coat is cool enough to be its own outfit, but this two-tone style from 3.1 Phillip Lim absolutely is. With contrasting black panels and large utility pockets, there’s no question it has the fashion-person treatment.
WARDROBE.NYC was created by an industry veteran stylist and designer as a line of luxury essentials “distilled into their purest and most versatile form,” as they put it. Take their trench coat which takes all the classic fixings like the tonal belt, double-breasted shape, and tortoiseshell buttons, and remixes it in a relaxed fit to feel ultra-modern.
Word to the wise: ASOS is a jackpot for affordable trench coats that hardly look it. One detail that always makes theirs look luxe is their maxi-length hems, which lend a sleek look to whatever they’re worn with.
You may only know of Sam Edelman for their shoes, but let this trench coat serve as proof that their outerwear is not to be overlooked. A peek at the selection on Nordstrom confirms that it’s equal parts classic and stylish.
Classic detailing with a relaxed fit seems to be the 2022 way to do trench coats and no style embodies this as much as this Topshop pick.
Naturally, our very own Who What Wear Collection had to put our editor-approved spin on the forever favorite. We stuck with a belted shape but updated the staple with contrasting light and dark green paneling.
While beige trench coats are certainly classics, sometimes you don’t want what everyone else is having. In that case, there are a few cool color alternatives like green, black, and this rust hue that offer a more offbeat appraoch.
This is lightweight, oversized trench hits just below the knee for a polished finish. We love the idea of wearing it with a slip and knee-high boots.
Next, these fall outfits are simple with a hint of trendiness—perfection.
