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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   3549 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for December 16, 2022

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Coat recommendations - you got 'em? I'm in the market for up to three coats:

  • Dressy enough to work with business attire, but not necessarily a suit.

  • Casual and very warm - try to look good with jeans and a sweater, but also comfortable for a decently long walk.

  • Running jacket.

Wisconsin winter, so frequently sub-zero temperatures (negative 18 for my Celsius friends). I've lived here for a decade, so decently cold acclimated, but I've never invested in nice coats - I really only have snowmobiling and hunting outerwear.

For the first one, the classic dark wool topcoat. Peacoat if you want shorter, overcoat if you want longer. It probably won't be adequate for -18 but on comparatively warmer days you can supplement it with hats, gloves and scarves (and more underlayers) which allow you to dress it up or down. Mine has been adequate for -10 with the extras while being comfortable up to +15 with only a t-shirt underneath. For -18 I'd be looking at Scandinavian military surplus parkas or something along those lines.

If you feel like you know what you’re doing, you can find great winter coats (for category No. 1 above) on eBay. Filter your search for pre-owned and accepts returns (maybe you eat shipping costs but aren’t stuck with something you aren’t fully happy with). If you have an old coat that fits well, take its measurements.

Men’s coats were often made with thicker wool in prior decades, which is a plus for Wisconsin’s climate. I picked up a dead stock, ‘80s, full-canvassed, gray herringbone, wool top coat, as well as a dead stock, ‘60s, brown, half-canvassed, Harris Tweed raglan, both originally from independent men’s stores out East, for between $100-200 each. For that price, you will be hard pressed to find anything of similar quality, new. Just pay attention to the measurements provided in either the photos or item description. Some eras, like parts of the ‘80s and ‘90s, you’ll likely fit into a size down (say a 40R instead of your usual 42R).

You can certainly dress a top coat down, easier if it isn’t solid black unless you’re going for that monochromatic look, and raglans are on their own a step more-casual.

My best find was for my better half. Someone had listed an as-new women’s ankle-length, MiUSA, double breasted, camel hair, Brooks top coat as a trench coat (perhaps because of the color), for just $100, when it surely cost four-figures even before adjusting for a couple decades of inflation.

https://www.patagonia.com/product/mens-tres-3-in-1-parka/28388.html

Just buy this. I don't own one but my wife got the women's equivalent, and honestly it's the superior choice. I'm a big thrift shopper for a decade now, and for all the beautiful vintage dress coats I own I almost never wear them. The space between "cold enough I can't get away with a scarf and a tweed blazer" and "so cold I'm gonna pick the warmest thing I own over the double breasted camel hair greatcoat" doesn't really come up often. The Patagonia tres looks good enough that she puts it over a suit for court, keeps out the elements really well, wearing the layers separately gives you a lot of options.

Although if you're really going to be out in the cold, get an old fur. At an estate auction I saved a full length raccoon from the dumpster, and that thing is a fucking climate all its own. For standing still in the cold it is unbeatable. I look like I'm cheering on the bulldogs to beat Harvard circa 1928 but I could sit outside in a sub zero blizzard and wouldn't notice a thing. I keep it around for snowmobiles, winter car camping trips, or odd times I need to be really warm.

Goddamn that is expensive

Meme, but buy once cry once (depending on your personal circumstances). I've run through a bunch of cheap coats, rather have one good one; and I've had Patagonia items and always been satisfied with them. It's Vimes' Boots theory of economic inequality. Sometimes as I get older I've learned to just buy the thing, rather than buy a bunch of imitations.

Fair, but my main concern with items like this becomes that I will lose them or they will get stolen. I would definitely not feel comfortable leaving something like this on an unattended coat hanger at a party or wearing it on the street in a third world country. Not a big fan of owning things that limits my freedom of interacting with the world

Like I said, depends on your circumstantia. I only visit warm third world countries and that not often.

When I lived in Wisconsin, my main coat was a Columbia fleece. If you're going to be outside for long it may not be enough, but I imagine that it'll do you for a nice walk (since walking will raise your body temp somewhat). I would also feel comfortable wearing it with business attire, since it's just a basic black jacket. But YMMV.

For a serious "I'm going to be outside in the cold a long time" coat, most people I've known have opted for North Face. I personally would just grab whatever coat was cheap and seemed warm, and it always did me fine. So I have no direct experience with North Face, but they seem solid enough.

A lot of the MFA recommendations are not suitable for -18C weather. Somehow all these dudes modelling topcoats and peacoats are standing around with their neck and chest practically bare in every picture.

I would buy something like a duffel coat for the dressier look and a nice down parka. I own an N-3B, but I have no idea why they call it an "extreme cold weather" parka.

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