I didn’t own a coat until less than a year ago. As a native Dallasite, I never needed one. On the two cold days of the year I would just hide indoors, and I was blissfully unaware that people wear coats out of necessity for warmth and not just as fashion statements. Whenever I saw people in TV shows wearing down coats, I just assumed the director was trying to create a “down-to-earth” small town vibe. Little did I know these unflattering wearable duvet covers are a necessity anywhere north of Oklahoma, and last November I finally caved and bought one. Once I had it, I was obsessed. I gave up trying to look cute and wore it literally always. I even wore it to bed sometimes. (Looking back, I’m eighty seven percent sure I had seasonal affective disorder).
Since this first real coat experience, I’ve been online coat shopping out the wazoo. I even tried looking in the summer- turns out online retailers are not into selling heavy-duty winter wear when temperatures are in the triple digits. But now, finally, coats are here! Suffering through the polar vortex was good for one thing: it gave this Dallasite justification to finally buy all the coats she always wanted. I’m now convinced I need multiples. Here are a couple favorites:
The J. Crew Stadium Cloth Cocoon Coat is back!
Leather trimmed coats galore. I love.
J. Crew Stadium Cloth Hooded Zip Coat
Pretty puffies: If you need to cover yourself in three inches of insulation, these ones are (semi) cute.
Canada Goose Camp Hooded Mid Length Puffer Jacket
North Face Women’s Thermoball Hoodie
Barbour Coats.
Barbour Women’s Quilted Utility Jacket
***Disclaimer: I had NO idea what Barbour jackets were before I got here… and still don’t really understand the hype. They’re utilitarian, not fabulous AT ALL and too waxy. They look like old man military coats and feel like the cloth version of linoleum floors someone forgot to mop beer off of. But maybe that’s the point? That you don’t look like you’re trying too hard? I don’t know. Everyone seems to love them though, so they get a spot for popularity’s sake.
Annnnd if you don’t have the funds to dump $500 on outerwear, you can always do what I did for eighteen and a half years- put on a sweatshirt and suck it up.