Buying Tips: A New Winter Jacket

As promised here are your Winter Jacket Buying Tips! Whether you’ve already bought your jacket for winter or if you’re currently basking in the joyous sun of the Southern Hemisphere, keep these tips handy. Print them out when you’re looking for your next jacket, you’ll be glad you did.

Remember, to be stylish you don’t need to be frumpy…..

The next time you’re looking for a jacket:

1) Make sure it fits. Not too big otherwise the wind will blow up through the bottom and you’ll be colder than you were before you left the house. If it’s too small you’ll look like a sausage – and no one wants to look like a bratwurst, regardless of how yummy they are!

2) Make sure it has lots of pockets. You want lots of pockets, I mean think about all of the extra accoutrements that you’re required to wear: hat, gloves, scarves, and don’t forget the normal things like cell phone, sunglasses (hey snow has a lot of glare), compact, lip moisturizer, hair brush (because you’re wearing a hat). One of my favorite coats had these extra pockets on the outside below the regular pockets for your gloves.

3) Go for a Zipper. What can I say about zippers…zippers are much better than buttons. Buttons are stylish, but buttons let the air in, especially when it’s blowing 30 mph (that’s 48 kph for our European friends). Even better get a jacket that has a zipper on the inside and buttons on the outside, you’ll stay warm and toasty AND be stylish!

4) Make sure it has gauntlets. You know those things around your wrists. I don’t know what they’re called, but make sure your jacket has some of those tight sweater like “grippys” at the end of the arm hole, it stops wind from blowing up your arms. Nothing worse than having cold arms, especially when you’re trying to hail a cab in the middle of a Nor’Easter!

5) The Neck Hole. Make sure the jacket zips or closes ALL the way to the top, there’s nothing worse than looking stylish in a great new pea coat and then realizing that you have to wear a turtleneck all winter because it doesn’t close all the way to the top!

6) Make sure you can get to your pockets. There’s nothing worse than having great pockets and not being able to access them! A lot of coats come with a handy cellphone pocket on the inside…..but if your coat doesn’t have dual zippers, you’ll find you have to expose yourself to the cold to get to your inside pockets!

7) Make sure it’s warm. Put that jacket on and run around the store for a few minutes, are you really hot? Then it’s perfect! Are you not breaking a sweat, then get a heavier jacket!