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Sure, we all know what wardrobe essentials for work professional women are supposed to have in their closets, but if you’re buying one for the first time or replacing one you’ve worn into the ground, it can be a pain to find exactly the right incarnation in stores. In “The Hunt,” we search the stores for a basic item that every woman should have.
Plaid shirt jackets (“shackets”) are really popular right now… with retailers at least. Here's my take: I want an amazing coat this season. Whether I'm in work clothes or, um, leggings, I don't want to look like I borrowed my lumberjack boyfriend's coat — I want to look polished and as glamorous as possible. (And warm. Warm is good.)
I thought I'd take around and see what's on the market right now… I was particularly interested in bold colors and fun patterns (leopard and plaid are huge trends for all kinds of coats this year!). (We've also rounded up some of our more classic winter coats for women if you're looking for something a bit more sedate.)
Readers, what kind of winter coat do you want this season? Which, if any, of these statement coats are calling your name?
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{related: the best winter coats to wear on your commute}
Classic Style Winter Coats for Women
Classic Winter Coats for Women in Plus Sizes
Statement Winter Coats for 2021
The faux fur/sherpa/teddy coat has been around for a while and it continues to go strong this year. This coat from Halogen is super soft and only $51-$71 (score!). (If you want to see an upmarket version of this here's a $4000 Armani alpaca wool coat.) Come to think of it both the high and low versions feel like they'd be a bit at home on Gwen Stefani circa 1999… which I'm kind of ok with.
Sam Edelman always has best-selling winter coats — they're affordable but crazy soft. I was in store at Nordstrom recently and was drawn to this one (even though I'm still deciding whether leopard prints align with my personal style at this point in time). It's crazy soft and is marked down to $129.
While hunting around I thought it was interesting to see that J.Crew Factory now has the “City Coat” in a variety of bright, bold colors (it's $238 new, but marked to $159 today) — I think this was previously a reader favorite at J.Crew, although I'm blanking on the name. It's available in sizes 00-24 in regular sizes, as well as petite sizes 00-12.
I don't think I've ever gotten a coat at Express, but this “strong shoulder chevron wedge coat” looks fabulous — I love the really bold pattern, as well as the way it looks both open and closed. (They've styled it onsite with a belt to keep it closed, but I don't believe it has any buttons or snaps of its own.) It's $198, available in sizes XXS-XL.
I know, I said I did not want plaid… and I never thought I'd like a patchwork of lots of plaid. But something about this coat from Avec Les Filles just works. In person, the blues are bluer, the browns are grayer, and the plaids and stripes are a bit more prominent. Styled differently (like with a simple black outfit, either for work or working out) I actually think it would look a lot more lux than it's styled here. It's $199 at Nordstrom, available in sizes XXS-XXL.
(This powder pink/lavender puffer coat from Avec Les Filles also caught my eye in person — again, not my usual style but it was lovely in person.)
Ooooh… I can't decide which I like better at Boden: the floral embroidered coat above or this amazing paisley velvet number that looks vintage. (This chain link puffer coat is also kind of amazing.) Ultimately I think it's the embroidery details on the pictured coat that sell it for me — SO unusual. It's $420 and available in sizes 2-22.
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Senior Attorney
OMG was looking through the Boden site and they have a straight up Doctor Who raincoat that looks just like the one the latest Doctor is wearing: https://www.bodenusa.com/en-us/bamburgh-raincoat-sage-navy/sty-u0012-lgr
Rach
Is it just me, or has Boden’s quality really taken a nosedive in the past 3 years?
anon
I have coveted the Garnet Hill asymmetrical wool coat for years. I still feel like it’s maybe too old of a style for me (early 40s) but I loooove it. It’s not inexpensive, though.
Anon
I was wondering if it’s too young for me. I’m also 40s
Rach
Asymmetrical coats can be very chic and stylish for all ages! I’ve seen tons of gals rocking them around Chicago. Throw on some sleek jeans and some sassy boots, and you’re good to go!
LaurenB
Those of us in cold climates have coat wardrobes.
Anon
I just bought the most amazing shacket – it has that awesomely-casual oversized shirt look, but it also has a robe-type belt so that it can be cinched to be more polished. I can’t wait for it to cool down enough to actually wear it.
Lori L.
So wonderful to see no puffer coats. They appear on so many fashion blogs (by people who only work from home!) as the only coat a woman needs. More than once when I’ve been interviewing candidates for a junior position, the candidate has arrived in a puffer coat that I know from the branding cost her well over $1k (so it’s not a cost issue for a new graduate.) But several colleagues (male and female) have joked about collegiate or excessively casual appearance–which is surely not what these women intend to convey. The same comments are made about male candidates in parkas. Of course, if there is a blizzard going on, all bets are off. (I’m in Toronto where it gets seriously cold.) But even in the great white North, everyone needs a basic cloth coat–for interviews, for formal meetings outside the office, funerals, evening occasions.