Buy and Hold: Two-season coats

Where I live, the mornings are already cool enough to demand a jacket and gloves; stores brim with  woolly overshirts and pillowy puffers.

The bomber jacket is everywhere, whether belted or gathered, skimming the waist or an inch or two below. These remind me of a favourite cartoon, where an elephant looks at a naked man and says, "It's cute, but how do you drink through that?"  

The bomber is a fashion accessory for those whose outdoor mode is "inside a car".  If you actually walk through the outdoors here, from now through April, a woman needs a couple of coats, beginning with lighter ones that can stand up to wind and cold rain, to our coldest-weather gear. Today in the windows, transitional coats that work for the shoulder seasons of fall and early spring, or, if you live in a milder climate, will sashay straight through.  

If looking for a new coat, you may notice yourself instinctively heading for the warmer end of the range. Women in the Passage like to be snuggly; damp cold seeps into the bones. 

For today, no black in the mix. A black coat feels fine in fall, but will not hop into your hand in March, when you are fatigued by winter. At the first sign of spring, you may reach again for autumn's olive, stone, or even navy and add a seasonal scarf, but black can't muster a double-ended transition.

A down jacket that's actually sexy

I wanted to focus entirely on wool today, but some women are allergic to it, and besides, this jacket is a standout.

Made by the luxury-outerwear Canadian company Mackage, the Priscilla Lightweight Down jacket cleverly delivers three options with a soft-shell jacket and detachable down vest that can zip together, or the down vest and  jacket can be worn on their own—and the two pieces are washable. Made in this luscious papaya, and five other colours. Price, $CAN $650.

Fall and spring in vibrant blue

Onward with wool.

After years of appreciating the warmth and lightness of down, I am drawn back to melton, loden or true double-faced wools that straddle a wider temperature range—even travelling down to crisply cold with a vest like the Uniqlo thin, quilted kind slipped beneath. 

Aqua delivers fresh, unexpected colour and is surprisingly complementary with both warm and cool colours. This double-faced pure wool is the "Beckett" Balmaccan, and is made in other colours but imagine that aqua on a dreary grey day! Also by Mackage. Price, $CAN 1, 190. 

From Vancouver: Sleet-beating classic

Anían's Cordova coat is a neat solution: though not a raincoat, the Agnello wool (blended with 20% nylon) will shed light rain and sleet, and the classic cut looks chic no matter what's under it. Price, $CAN 350. Made in Canada.

Photo: Anían

The fabric is lofty and cosy; the almost bouclé texture makes it more feminine in person than it looks online. Two friends have it, and rate it as "a grabber".  

We could be heroes

If you want a shorter coat, the finale presents a sharp one! Ste. Marg. Scott is a Canadian company who manufacture locally. Founder Sasha Jardine told me, "We make a proper winter coat!" 

The Baby Bowie is the short version of the full-length duffle, shown in periwinkle (among other luscious colours, and a rich camel and deep navy), it delivers both warmth and whimsy. I have tried on both versions, talk about coat lust! Price (pre-ordering now would be a good idea) is $CAN 798.

Photo: Ste. Marg. Scott

If looking for a season-spanning coat, timing helps; good ones, especially those made by small producers, sell out early. The leaves are beginning to turn; the sun sets earlier each day, jackets and woollens come out of storage, 

The warm hug of of a supple woollen topper is, along with the new crop of apples, a predictable October treat, and since a coat is, as my mother always said, is "the first and last thing people see", why not make it a delicious one?