Fashion
How to Style Your 7 Favorite Types of Winter Coats
Nothing is more frustrating than when you're almost ready to dash out the door and suddenly, you realize that your coat is ruining your outfit. Or maybe your outfit is ruining your coat? You curse, you shuck it off, you try the vintage faux fur instead, but nothing is working together. Suddenly, you're a college kid again, playing that dangerous game of "Do I really need a coat? Can't I just bear the cold for the sake of a few hours of coat-free bar bliss?"
Turns out — to avoid hypothermia and increase your changes of appearing on The Sartorialist — sometimes it's best just to style your outfit around the coat itself.
The Trench Coat
Do:
1. Keep it classy. Breton stripes? Skinny jeans? Leather boots? Check, check, and check, please.
2. Wear it untied, hands in pockets.
3. Wear it tied, with bare legs and heels. A perfectly glamorous evening look.
4. Add a fedora.
Don't:
Mess around with fit. There's nothing less flattering than a trench that's cinched way too tight at the waist. Get one in your size, or not at all.
The Leopard-Print Coat
Do:
1. Play with volume. The bigger the better, ya crazy cat lady.
2. Pair with yellow. And gray. And neutrals. So chic.
3. Pair with sharp, sleek black — pumps, sunglasses, turtlenecks, skinny jeans. Who runs the world now?
4. Wear during the day, because you just don't give a fox.
Don't:
1. Pair with other animal prints. The poor darlings!
The Menswear-Inspired Coat
Do:
1. Wear with androgynous or super feminine silhouettes.
2. Literally steal one from the guys -- the tweedier and more oversized, the better.
3. Pair it with a wisp of scarf around your neck — your take on the ascot.
Don't:
1. Wear it with sweatpants.
The Colorful Vintage Find
Do:
1. Let it be the statement piece.
2. Wear it just like you'd wear a "normal" coat, with a "This old thing?" attitude.
3. Say, "What is normal?"
4. Wear over an LBD.
Don't:
1. Pair with sunglasses inside.
The Opera Coat
Do:
1. Wear it to the opera, the Met Ball, a really fancy date, or anything involving a red carpet.
2. Pair with formalwear. This coat is not for jokesters.
3. Add the sharpest red lip of your life.
4. Tone down the accompanying jewelry.
Don't:
1. Wear it to brunch.
The Camouflage Coat
Do:
1. Wear it with punchy colors.
2. Add jewelry that looks a little dangerous.
3. Paint your nails metallic.
4. Get a bit punk with the whole thing.
Don't:
1. Pair with "feminine lace" the way everyone was doing a few years ago.
The Statement Jacket
Do:
1. Let it be the focal point of your outfit. Wear light clothes underneath so you don't broil like a Christmas roast.
2. Pair with unfussy hair.
3. Keep jewelry and makeup super minimal so you don't look like you're trying to be this guy.
Don't:
1. Fling it on the nearest chair the second you get inside.
