Many of you ask us for advice on winter coats for men. Which material? Which cut? How to recognize a quality coat?
And we understand why. The coat is the master piece of our wardrobe when fall/winter arrives. Piece that we will wear every day to fight against the low temperatures.
This introduces two important things:
you have to find a coat versatile enough to wear with everything
you must be sure to invest in quality (it is an expensive piece)
So here is our guide to choosing a winter coat.
coat-man-style
And we prefer to warn you that it will be hard to choose so much there is for all the tastes.
THE RAW MATERIALS OF A GOOD COAT FOR MEN
1. WOOL COATS
When you want warmth, nothing better than a woolen sheet (there are several varieties). It is an insulating fabric even in rainy weather, breathable and comfortable. And it adapts well to the shape of the body.
drap-de-laine-man-coat
To recognize a quality wool sheet, it must be dense and slightly rigid.
We therefore avoid polyester and acrylic. Or very little: at least 70% wool!
When a synthetic material is added in small proportion (less than 10%), it is possibly to improve the holding of the piece. But beyond that, it indicates that the wool chosen is a lower quality wool.
Let me explain! If you add synthetic to strengthen the piece, it means that the wool chosen is a short wool of second choice, or that it is recycled. A quality wool whose fibers are longer is sufficient on its own.
The problem with plastics is that they are not breathable. So you will sweat when you go from cold to warm (subway, bus, buildings) or when you walk in the street.
So whenever possible, prefer natural fibers. Michel explains it all very well in this article.
The best of the best are wool blends with mohair, alpaca, cashmere, etc. These blends allow you to combine each advantage of each material. For example, the softness of cashmere, the shine of mohair or the lightness of alpaca, with the strength of wool.
vicuña coat man
Here, just to dream, we hit the really very heavy with a vicuña coat: the rarest and softest material in the world.
These blends are becoming more and more common (especially in men's fashion), but let's not forget that it comes at a price; wool blend coats under 200 € must have some things to hide:
A raw material of poor quality
A poor assembly
Or a poorly paid workforce
Knowing that David, valiant, tried to make a selection here.
cheap man coat
The poor quality of materials (dull, rough) is blatant, the cut caught by pins in the back, the armhole approximate. In short, EVERYTHING you need to run away from.
2. THE MAIN FAMILIES OF WOOL FABRICS
The drapery is to be differentiated from the drapery, a family of much lighter fabrics called "tailor's weight". The drapery is used for the realization of costumes while the sheet is used for the coat. So we find :
Coat weight = 500gr / mL (we speak of sheets),
Weight suit = 150gr / mL (we talk about drapery).
mL meaning "linear meter", that is to say the mass of 1m of sheet roll, generally 1,50m wide (we call this width the "laize")
It is the first category which interests us, there are three variants.
THE FOAMY WOOLLENS
More common in women's fashion than men's, these are wools worked in a loose knit. These woollens are warm but allow air to pass through. They are more appropriate for jackets than for coats (which are worn as an outer layer).
As an example, we can think of some tweeds whose irregular and foamy texture you already know.
coat-gray-man-foamy
This type of textured coat can be worn with a full suit.
DOUBLE WOOLLENS
They are obtained by fusing two fabrics woven together, sometimes used in double face: a different color on each side.
This is ideal for a man's cashmere coat, whose inner side is extremely comfortable to wear.
There is also an aesthetic interest with lapels that contrast the front.