The snow is officially here, it’s the time of year where your suit alone isn’t going to keep you comfortable and warm. A good formal coat makes all the difference on a snowy morning commute. Let’s review some timeless options that will pair easily with your favorite suit.
Types of Winter Coat Fabrics
Wool
Wool is one of the most resilient fabrics out there, wool is always a great option for a winter coat. Wool is excellent at retaining warmth. Wool keeps you warm while keeping you dry through its natural moisture-wicking properties. A durable wool coat will easily withstand the wear and tear of winter while keeping you looking crisp and polished throughout the whole season.
Cashmere and Cashmere Blends
If you are looking for a bit of luxury check out cashmere. Cashmere is considered one of the most luxurious winter fabrics, it’s lighter, softer and pure cashmere is up to 8 times as warm as wool. The only problem with cashmere is its durability. Cashmere easily pills in areas of frequent friction and generally isn’t nearly as durable as a pure wool coat.
Luckily, you won’t have to choose between durability and warmth. Enter the wool/cashmere blend. The wool/cashmere blend is more durable than pure cashmere, its softer and warmer than pure wool. It's the best of both worlds.
Cotton
Cotton is a good option for a lighter coat or jacket like a trench coat. Easy to care for, cotton can be found in heavier weights. Some include waterproof treatments like waxed cotton.
Types of Coats to Wear Over Your Suit
There are three main types of coats that you can wear over your suit, topcoats, peacoats, or trench coats.
Topcoat
A topcoat is an excellent, classic option for a formal winter coat that goes over your suit. Topcoats are also sometimes referred to as overcoats. While at some point in the distant past, overcoats and topcoats were actually different, today, they’re virtually the same and can be more or less used interchangeably.
While a single-breasted topcoat is the most common type of topcoat, double-breasted variations of the topcoat are available as well and are slightly warmer. Lastly, topcoats are meant to end at or just above the knee.
Peacoat
Peacoats are shorter than trench coats and topcoats and are always double-breasted. They often feature a taller and wider collar that can be flipped up and buttoned up for added warmth. Like British style suits, peacoats can trace its origins to military attire. With a need for a warm, heavy coat to wear through the crisp air of the North Sea, the peacoat was originally invented by the Dutch, with ‘pije’ being the root word, meaning ‘coarse wool fabric’. Though the Dutch are credited with its conception, the British navy subsequently adopted and refined the peacoat. It becomes a distinguishing style for its naval officers, and thus the modern peacoat was born. It’s not surprising that the most popular color for peacoats is navy.
Trench Coat
Trench coats is a knee-length double-breasted jacket with a fabric belt and buckle. Its design can be traced back to Thomas Burberry (yes, that Burberry) who helped popularize it when he switched from wool to cotton to allow the coat to be worn in more versatile conditions. They were adopted en masse by British forces during WW1, giving the jacket an appropriate and grim backstory. After the war, military surplus trench coats were given away, which led to their popularity amongst civilians.
Come check out our coat selection at UWM Men’s Shop today and stay warm this winter!!