dec
16
2007
coat quandary
My five-year-old winter coat is showing its age: The lining is gradually shredding, and it may be more trouble than it’s worth to try to have it repaired. Eying the current holiday sales and promotional offers, I’m pondering possible replacements. My dilemma seems to be one of versatility vs. style.
- Should I go with a system (the übercoat), which comes with a warming liner jacket and a waterproof outer jacket that I can wear separately or together (above left)?
- Or should I go with something a little more formal (but, theoretically, no less warm), like an insulated long wool coat (above right)?
Assume that both coats are comparable in price. Opinions?
8 Comments So Far
My jackets/coats have almost always been utilitarian, mostly because of my difficulty with putting things on. So I’ve never really had a “fancy” coat.
But this isn’t about me…
Get both! :)
Go for a system - more versatile and you can use it in summer as well as winter (with the fleece lining out). You can get lots of different designs so you could probably find a smarter one if you look hard enough but still retain the versatility.
If you find you do need a formal coat (for work, say) then there’s an argument for having both, but otherwise I’d go for practical (boring I know!).
I’d go with the second one. I’m all about utility… but the second looks so much more elegant. I have many regular jackets I like, but I love my overcoat.
I’d go number two…it’ll keep your bum warmer :) Plus, I really like the look of a longer black jacket. It works well with casual attire, but would make an awesome party coat as well.
If the warmth factor is the same for each, I’d go for style!
“action” coat: can be worn for formal & informal activities. as you noted, flexible for multiple kinds of weather. OTOH, maybe not as professional-looking in a formal setting.
“dress” coat: stylish, can be worn as part of a work or dress-up ensemble. probably wouldn’t want to wear it for outdoorsy stuff.
ideally, you’d want both to be prepared for different situations. but since we’re not in ideal here, consider how often you find yourself wanting to look professional vs. needing to be athletic (or whatever) in cold weather.
if it were me, I’d probably get the stylish one. then again, I already have a couple of more casual wintry jackets.
D’oh! Forgot to put my name, etc. with that comment. :)
Heh. I had this same dilemma last year, and I ended up getting something like this:
http://www.brooklynindustries.com/brooklyn/productdetails.jsp?id=2286&cid=1
It’s a great compromise between versatile and stylish, and I was sold on the idea when I was in NYC last January and EVERYONE regardless of how dressed up they were, was wearing a coat like this. Wait for the end of January, Brooklyn Industries will have a great sale!
Nice collection of winter jackets I found at Timberland store through couponalbum.com…
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