Style mavens - winter coat help!

[CompassRose]

The Canadian dollar is at a record high, so the timing is PERFECT to do a little online shopping! Anyone want to shop with me?

I need a winter coat. Badly. I'm strongly tempted by this one from J. Crew, but somehow... it's not QUITE it. I also really liked this striped one, but -- first, it's sold out, and second, bracelet sleeves are hardly practical for the Canadian winter.

I like the Plaza coat, the first one, for its Thinsulate lining option (Canadian winter!) and shorter length, and the style is classic enough that my three hundred dollar investment will be good for years... but I'm a bit worried that the skirt might be too narrow for my lush curves (not to mention the shoulders).

I dunno. I'm looking for something just a bit more�interesting, I guess? Still classic enough to keep going winter after winter like the Energizer bunny, but with a bit more �lan. Maybe a really flared skirt... or something fancy in the sleeves... or something... But I don't do a lot of online shopping, and I really don't know where to start. The J. Crew coat, at $350 or so, is probably about the top of my price range.

I'm short, and very wide in the shoulders, and very, very hourglass-shaped. Anything straight up and down makes me look like a Twinkie and probably won't even button below the waist, and volume needs to be judiciously deployed. And it's gotta be a "real" coat, substance as well as style, cos winter temps can drop to -30C, and I do a lot of walking...

[CompassRose]

Anyone?

I LOVE this Burberry one, but it's $1300. I don't think one's coat should cost more than one's car.

[applecrisp]

I'm also looking for a coat -- so I will be watching this thread.

I can't tell with the J Crew coat, but it looks like there are only a couple of buttons in front. And, could the last button be at the waist. Maybe I just can't see the other buttons.

I tried on a coat last season that liked but it really left the bottom exposed (I could imagine a whole bunch of the coat blowing open in the wind) based on the button position. And, then there was the cashmere coat with no buttons... just a belt to wrap it. A no go in New England.

I'll check back if I find anything that looks like a possibility.

[KimK]

That Burberry coat is really cute! But I'm with you - I wouldn't pay that much. Last weekend the Today show covered had an article about winter coats. Perhaps it would help? http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/21598458/

They showed one puffy coat or parka that was adorable - nice and warm but fashionable.

Good luck with your search!

[Gilgamesh37]

Well I'm not going to be much help here, because I gave up style in favor of not freezing my tuchus off long ago. I'm short and hourglass-y and I'm perfectly okay with looking like a fireplug so long as I don't freeze to death walking in from the commuter lot in the mornings.

This is my coat, from Land's End. Warm, durable, reasonably priced, and (I think) slightly better looking than your standard poofy parka. But if you're really committed to stylish, that it ain't.

[mightyh]

What about this one? The empire waist gives some shape and it could last for seasons and seasons--very classic.

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/produc...ategoryID=6403

Or this one? It also has some nice seaming to give a little shape/structure:

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/produc...ategoryID=6403

This one is 100% wool (sometimes hard to find) and a great price with lots of color options:


http://www.landsend.com/pp/WoolWalki...9&origin=index

This one looks nice:

http://www.bluefly.com/pages/product...&Nu=Product+ID

[foodfiend]

CompassRose -- what size are you?
Go to eBay.ca, type in "J Crew striped coat", and you'll find a few gifts.

[Robyn1007]

These are all from Nordstom (can you order from Nordstrom?)

[Chelle D]

I was looking at Nordstrom's too. I like the first one, but it's different than others you are looking at. The second one looks like somethng you might like.



or



I really like this one too - from Macy's

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/produc...rGreen#reviews

[mightyh]

Garnet Hill has some outerwear on sale right now...

I think the Hilary Radley shaped down coat is lovely... and the Isis long down coat sounds very warm!

http://www.garnethill.com/jump.jsp?i...%2C7488%2C7493

[Kahlico]

I've always loved the style of JCrew coats, mainly because they're stylish but not trendy. I do agree the cuffs on the striped JCrew coat may not be long enough, or you may just have to wear longer gloves to compensate.

My main piece of advice is, don't be afraid to drop $300+ on a coat, but make sure it's a classic color and a classic style. Following my own advice, this is why I'm partial to JCrew.


Emilie

[Elbows]

JCrew is designed for the 20-year-old body though. I thought I had curves at 20, they are nothing to my 30-something curves I got my wedding gown through JCrew earlier this year, and the hips were tricky to fit around, as well as the chest area being a little higher than I was accustomed to. They are really good about returns and the quality is quite good.

You are in Ontario, correct? Maybe try getting to a Melanie Lyne store if there is one in your area. They usually have tons of great wool coats. I bought one several years ago that is still holding up great, is super warm, plus it was made in Canada

[CompassRose]

That's one of the things I'm worried about, Elbows. The fit. The Plaza coat looks pretty snug round the model's hips, there, and she doesn't have any. I wish I'd thought to check Melanie Lyne while I was in Ottawa a week ago -- there's half a dozen stores there. Bah.

Look! Macy's seems to have an almost-knockoff of the Burberry!

I love that plaid one from Nordstrom, but by the style of it, I'd say it's not winter-weight wool -- they'd never be able to get the sleeves like that in any serious fabric. More of a fall coat, I'm betting. Plus, wide waist belts, especially tie ones, can be dubious on me unfortunately. They don't emphasise my waist, they swallow it.

I'll have to look on ebay! When I get home... In JCrew, I'm probably a twelve.

The other option would be for me to take the six metres of espresso-coloured wool/cashmere fabric I've got tucked into a Rubbermaid, and make a coat, THE coat, exactly the kind of coat I'd want. I don't know where I'd find the time, though. I seem to be busy every night of the week. And then I'd need to find or draft a pattern, too! GAH! There are not enough hours in the day, there just aren't...

I wish I'd bought the red Pierre Cardin swing coat trimmed in black velvet that I saw in Value Village for thirty dollars in the summer. It needed some mending work, and a serious dry clean, and the 30� heat put me off, but that was really dumb of me.

[CompassRose]

Well I'm not going to be much help here, because I gave up style in favor of not freezing my tuchus off long ago. I'm short and hourglass-y and I'm perfectly okay with looking like a fireplug so long as I don't freeze to death walking in from the commuter lot in the mornings.

Well, I often feel that way too... and I already HAVE this, from LL Bean, which is totally warm and windproof and quite unflattering. Some days, though, I have something nice on, and want to look "pulled together" rather than as though I've been put into unwilling femdrag.

[Alethea]

Just chiming in on the Plaza coat, since I tried it on earlier this fall. It's cut pretty tightly around the shoulders. I'm pretty narrow across the shoulders (can never keep straps up or find a fitted jacket that doesn't make me look like a linebacker) and I found the size that otherwise fit well to be too tight through there. But I was trying on a petite--I'm right on the borderline in terms of height--so it's possible that was part of the problem. (I'm 5'5"-ish and the arms of the regular version were way too long for me.)

I also wouldn't describe it as a terribly warm coat. Maybe the thinsulate would help, but it would still be drafty around the neck and legs.

[tbb113]

I bought http://www.bluefly.com/pages/product...r=ca_shopzilla at Nordstrom. But I don't think it is warm enough for a Canadian winter (says she who lives in the SF Bay Area)

[Terri_A]

How about adding a little color to a dreary winter? I LOVE the color of this coat!!!

http://www.bluefly.com/pages/product...&Nu=Product+ID