Burberry

Thomas Burberry founded his outfitter's business in Basingstoke in 1856 and changed outerwear permanently with gabardine — the tightly woven, weatherproof cotton he developed and patented, which clothed polar expeditions and, in the First World War, produced the trench coat whose name records its origin. The trench remains the house's central object: the check lining, the D-rings, the storm flap all descend from function. A century and a half on, Burberry is Britain's largest luxury house, cycling through creative directors while the coat holds steady at the center. The heritage trenches — Kensington, Chelsea, Waterloo cuts — are made in England and worth buying over fashion pieces; they outlast trends by design. The check, over-exposed in the 1990s and carefully rehabilitated since, is best worn where it began: inside the coat.

Have a heritage trench altered rather than sized up — the coat is cut to layer over tailoring, and a proper sleeve length transforms how it reads.