Tibi Reversible Cuffed Trench

The trench is the most over-specified coat in existence. Almost everything on it, the storm flap, the gun flap, the epaulettes, the D-rings, was solved for a soldier in a trench and has been carried forward for a century by people who will never use any of it. Tibi has taken the outline and put two working ideas back where the ceremonial ones were.

The first is that it reverses, and reversibility is much harder than it sounds. A normal coat hides an enormous amount inside itself: seam allowances, interfacing, facings, the construction that gives a collar its roll and a shoulder its line. A reversible coat has no inside to hide them in. Every seam has to be finished on both faces, the pockets have to work from both sides, and anything structural has to be either symmetrical or absent. Most reversible garments solve it by being two thin shells sewn together, and they hang like two thin shells. This one is a single cotton-led cloth doing both jobs, plain on one face and plaid on the other, which is why it still has a coat’s weight to it.

The second idea is the clips. The hem is drawn up and held, so the same coat wears long or short. That is a proportion change rather than a fit change, and it is the more useful of the two, because the length of a coat decides what can be worn under it. And the cloth is finished to repel water, which is what the original was for and what most of its descendants quietly stopped doing.

Why we selected it

A coat of this kind usually asks to be the only decision in an outfit, and this one asks to be four different decisions. That is the argument. We are also plainly interested in garments that are two things without being obviously either, and a coat that reverses and changes length is the fullest version of that idea in the house.

Tibi was founded in 1997 by Amy Smilovic, and outerwear is where the house’s habit of building adjustability into a garment shows most clearly.

Materials and construction

Seventy-two percent cotton and twenty-eight percent polyester, given a water-repellent finish. Made in China. Tan and black plaid. Reversible, with a printed plaid on one face, and clips at the hem that adjust the coat’s length.

Fit notes

Cut as a trench, so it is drawn to be worn over things and will be roomy across the chest by design rather than by accident. The clipped-up length sits shorter through the hip and changes the balance considerably, so it is worth trying both before deciding on a size. Because the coat reverses there is no lining to add bulk, which means it takes a jacket underneath more easily than a lined coat of the same nominal size.

Styling

Over the Tropical Wool Liam Blazer, which is the version that goes to work, and the clips shortened so the two hems are not fighting. Over the Alec Jean with the Washable Cashmere Oversize Easy T, plain face out, when it should read as nothing at all. Plaid face out over the Slip Skirt, where the coat is the whole outfit.

Care

A water-repellent finish is a treatment applied to the cloth rather than a property of it, which means it is the first thing an aggressive cleaning process takes off. Treat it gently, keep it away from heat, and follow the garment’s own label, since a cotton and polyester blend has two different tolerances in it. Our care guidance covers cotton, and it covers what to do when a garment is more than one material.

Related pieces

For a shorter and sharper outer layer, the Cavalier Twill Shrunken Blazer. It goes over the Alec Jean in Classic Blue and over the Tropical Wool Convertible Overall Skirt. Layering With Tibi is the Library post that puts these together, and everything we currently hold from Tibi is listed together.