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Notes on a Perfect Coat

Shoulders, length, lining and cloth: everything we have learned from a decade of wearing, repairing and arguing about winter coats.

By Imogen Vale 4 min read
A long camel coat on a woman walking across a pale stone square in winter light, seen from a little way off

A good coat is the only garment that does three jobs at once. It keeps you warm, it decides how you look from the front, and it is the last thing anyone sees before you leave the room. It deserves more thought than it usually gets.

We have worn, repaired and argued about a great many coats over the years. What follows is the short version: what to look for, what to ignore, and how to make one last long enough to become a habit.

What a coat is actually for

Most people say warmth, and most people are wrong, or at least incomplete. Warmth is easy; a duvet is warm. What a coat has to do is keep you warm while looking as though you are not trying, in a wind, on a platform, for the whole of a working day. That is a tailoring problem as much as a textile one.

Shoulders

Start here, because nothing else can be fixed. The shoulder seam should sit at the end of your own shoulder bone, or a hair beyond it if you want a relaxed line. If it droops, the coat will always look borrowed. If it bites, you will never raise your arm to hail a taxi.

Length

Hem lengths are a matter of proportion, not fashion. Mid-thigh is easy and brisk. Knee-length is the most useful and the hardest to get wrong. Below the knee asks for good shoes and a straight back. Whichever you choose, check the coat when you are sitting down: it should not bunch at the hip.

Lining and weight

Turn a coat inside out in the shop. A good lining is cut with a little extra length, so the outer cloth can move without dragging it; a bad one is a thin sack stitched in at the last minute. Weight is the other tell. A well-made coat feels heavy for its size, and the weight is in the cloth, not the padding.

Detail of a coat collar and shoulder in thick wool, shot from slightly below with a pale sky behind
The test is not how it looks on the hanger, but how the shoulder behaves when you move.
A coat should be like a good chair: you notice it when it is wrong, and you stop noticing it when it is right.

Choosing a cloth

The material decides almost everything else: how it hangs, how it ages, and how much it will annoy you in the rain. This is the quick guide we wish we had been given at twenty-five.

ClothWeightBest forCare
Wool meltonHeavyCold, dry wintersBrush after wearing; dry-clean rarely
Wool and cashmere blendMediumCity commutingRest between wears; steam, do not press
Camel hairMediumDry cold and smart dressingSpot-clean; keep out of heavy rain
GabardineLightWet, mild daysWipe clean; re-proof once a year
Boiled woolHeavyWindy coastsHand-brush; keep away from heat

Five silhouettes, and who they suit

There are really only five shapes. Everything else is a variation.

  1. The straight overcoat. The reference point. Works on almost everyone and with almost everything.
  2. The wrap coat. Belted, unlined or lightly lined, and the most forgiving if your weight changes.
  3. The cocoon. Rounded at the shoulder and tapered at the hem. Beautiful over knitwear, tricky with a bag.
  4. The double-breasted. Authority in cloth. Needs the shoulders to be right.
  5. The car coat. Short, practical, a little bit retro. The best answer to the question of what to wear on a motorway services stop.
Woman in a long straight camel overcoat standing against a plain pale wall
Woman in a belted wrap coat in oatmeal wool, seen from the side
Woman in a rounded cocoon coat in dark grey, hands in pockets
Man in a navy double-breasted coat, buttoned, outdoors in soft light
Woman in a short olive car coat leaning on a parked car
Five silhouettes: straight, wrap, cocoon, double-breasted and car coat.
A row of dark winter coats on a rail in a tailor’s workroom, daylight from a tall window
A tailor’s workroom, where most coats get their second life.

Looking after it

A coat is an investment only if it is looked after, and looking after it is mostly a matter of doing very little, regularly.

  • Brush the cloth with a soft clothes brush after wearing, always in the direction of the nap.
  • Let it rest for a day between wears. Wool recovers its shape while it hangs.
  • Use a wide, curved hanger. A wire one will ruin a shoulder in a season.
  • Steam out creases instead of pressing them flat.
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Rule of thumb. You should be able to fit a thick jumper under it and still raise both arms above your head without the hem lifting past your hips.

How often should a coat be dry-cleaned?

As rarely as you can manage: once a season at most. Brushing and airing do most of the work in between, and every cleaning takes a little life out of the cloth.

Can I shorten the sleeves myself?

Sleeves are a job for a tailor, because the lining, the vent and the buttons all have to move with them. It is one of the cheapest alterations and one of the most transformative.

Is it worth paying more for a hand-finished coat?

Sometimes. Hand-finishing matters most at the collar, the buttonholes and the armholes, so check those three places before you check the price tag.

The perfect coat does not exist, of course. But a very good one does, and it is probably cheaper, plainer and older than you think.

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Imogen Vale

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Imogen Vale

Fashion director. Writes about tailoring, the economics of getting dressed, and why most people already own enough.

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