Five Plus One is our weekly series of buyer’s guides. We pick a specific category and dig up five great options along with one that’s a little outside the norm.
If you’re not looking for maximum warmth and water resistance, but rather a medium layer for a brisk autumn day, then a chore coat might be the perfect choice. Whether you’re interested in wool, canvas, denim, or just about any other fabric you can think of, there’s a chore coat out there made of it. The perfect coat for you isn’t for us to decide, but we’ve put together some great options from this season’s roster that we hope will spark interest in this style for you.
1) Brooklyn Clothing x Dehen 1920: Knit Chore Coat Loden
Dehen 1920 teamed up with Brooklyn Clothing to make this beautiful iteration of the Knit Chore Coat, this time in Loden wool. It’s made in the USA from a luscious, tightly knitted wool fabric and has a bevy of amazing details. With reinforced elbow pads, Corozo buttons, and contrasting seam binding, this jacket has a lot going on but remains a single, cohesive garment. It might not be the cheapest option, but if you want a chore coat in a non-conventional material that’s full of nuance, look no further.
Available for $630CAD (~$455USD) from Brooklyn Clothing.
2) LC King: Brown Duck Chore Coat
LC King‘s Brown Duck Chore Coat is iconic, and while we’ve talked about it many times before, no chore coat article would be complete without it. They’re made in the USA from 12 oz. duck canvas, and have a ton of great construction details ranging from double-needled felled seems and bar tack reinforcement to angled buttonholes on the sleeves and riveted side seams. While the price of these has gone up over the years, they’re still a monument to excellent quality-to-cost garments.
Available for $165 from LC King.
3) Bradley Mountain: Edison Chore Coat – Brush Brown
If you are interested in that classic brown chore coat aesthetic but want a bit more water resistance than a classic duck cloth will provide, then Bradley Mountain‘s Edison Chore Coat in 11 oz. waxed canvas is an excellent option. In addition to the waxed fabric that will patina beautifully over time, this unlined coat has antique brass hardware, a half-hidden pen pocket, and reinforced front hand pockets. And if the colorway isn’t quite doing it for you have no fear, they offer a wide range of waxed canvas colorways.
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Available for $285 from Bradley Mountain.
4) Carhartt WIP: Michigan Chore Coat
We all know Carhartt WIP makes great, classic workwear but sometimes we want something with a bit of a slimmer silhouette. Fortunately for us, WIP offers not only a classically cut chore but also their slimmer Michigan Chore Coat, and in some great fabrics to boot. It has all the pockets you’d expect on a chore coat of this quality with the addition of a blanket-lined body and nylon-lined sleeves. The 12 0z. denim along with that aforementioned lining makes this an excellent autumn coat even as the weather gets a bit more chilly.
Available for $268 from Carhartt WIP.
5) Blluemade: Chore Coat – Green Corduroy
Corduroy is a wonderful fabric that’s used in all manner of workwear clothing, but for some reason, the corduroy chore coat options have been slightly lacking recently. Fortunately for us, Blluemade has stepped up with their Green Corduroy Chore Coat — made in the USA from Italian corduroy and based on classic, French work coats, it’s hard not to fall in love with this piece. Made of an almost iridescent green cord, the textures of this jacket are out of this world, and the classic three exterior pockets, and one interior pocket pattern work perfectly with the vertical wales.
Available for $459 from Franklin & Poe.
Plus One – The Quartermaster: Chestnut Jacket Galceti
While a lot of chore coats are fairly plain, that doesn’t have to be the case. The Quartermaster‘s Chestnut Jacket Galceti is made from a blend of 70%/30% cotton/recycled poly-wool, which come together to form a beautiful jacquard fabric. This made-in-Italy jacket is finished with a ton of great details like brass snaps, satin-lined sleeves, and herringbone twill pocket lining. It’s definitely not your everyday kinda chore coat, but if it’s your style it’s a real winner.
Available for $425 from Division Road.
