Surviving the Seasons: One Coat at a Time (The Essentials)

Wow, September is FLYING by!! I've been on hiatus for the past week, mainly because I've been having too much fun, and then realizing that late nights don't work for me and then promptly falling asleep at 8:00 pm on the couch. Yes, sometimes I'm VERY LAME!!

Anyway, as September ends, we are DEFINITELY into fall, and I thought it might be fun to do a review of what I consider seasonal ESSENTIALS to make it through a year of living in Cleveland (or anyway in the Northern U.S. for that matter).

So here goes:

1. The Trench Coat: It rains in Cleveland. A LOT. Well, not as much as Seattle, say, but its still enough to be inconvenient. And if you work downtown (or any place by the lake), an umbrella is pretty much useless because that wind is just going to whip that umbrella upside down. And so, I consider a trench an absolute necessity. If your trench has hood- BONUS! Now you can go find your trench at pretty much any department store, but I recommend you try Overstock or TJMaxx or Marshalls. As much as I consider the trench a necessity, I firmly believe you should save the big bucks for the REAL winter essentials.

Trench Coat: Overstock.com 

2. The Wool Coat: This is your everyday-everywhere coat for the winter. You can wear it to work, out to a nice dinner, somewhere where you want to have a dressy look and still stay warm. Now, you could go with the traditional black pea coat, but have you tried to find your coat in the middle in winter, in the midst of all the other black pea coats? And so I recommend going for a color. It will brighten your winter day (when the sun disappears for weeks on end), and will make it (and you) easy to spot in a crowd. This is where I really recommend the splurge-- my favorite is the J.Crew double cloth with Thinsulate. It's a little early for all the styles, but if you wait a couple of months, you will see the whole Thinsulate collection. If you have a backup coat from last year and have the patience to wait until February or March, you will get a FANTASTIC deal when these go on sale, but buyer beware- you may not find your size.

Thinsulate Coat: J. Crew

3. The Parka: Done incorrectly, you could end up looking like the Michelin Man. However, there are a few brands like North Face and Michael Kors that have nipped in waists, and while they're still puffy, they do have SOME shape. Now, I fully recognize the parka is not exactly fashion forward, but when its snowed for entire month of February, with 6 blizzards in between, including days of the dreaded wintry mix, you will thank me for this recommendation as you stay warm and dry, even when you're outside. Again, I'm a big fan of color here, and this eggplant is adorable!!

North Face Metropolis 

So there you have it-- my Cleveland weather essentials. Later this week, I will bring you the optionals!