Friday, January 3, 2014

Fleurette Winter Coats

Living in Chicago requires serious cold weather style.  Like, really really really cold weather: Monday is to be a high of -8 F.  My first winter here six years ago, I followed the crowd and bought a puffy down coat that resembles a sleeping bag more than a garment.  The coat is super warm and still in good condition, but every time I wear it, I feel blaaaaah.  I know that thick wool can be as warm as down, since I wore a thrifted wool coat while studying abroad in St Petersburg one winter, so I decided this year to find a wool coat that is true to my style.

Today I had the day off work and headed downtown to wander around the Art Institute.  I donned my puffy coat and braved the elements.


The dramatic temperature change from outside to the lobby of the museum caused my poor lens to fog.



While downtown, I took the opportunity to shop for wool coats.  I had been obsessing over Fleurette coats on Nordstrom's website, but decided to try Nordstrom Rack before heading to the real thing.  Thank goodness I did!  I found two gorgeous Fleurette coats in my size for a whopping 75% off each.  A red all wool coat and a camel all cashmere coat, both made in the USA of Italian Loro Piana fabric.  Since I was prepared to buy a Fleurette coat at full price, I easily justified buying two for the equivalent of half of one at retail.




The red wool Fleurette coat:


I wore the red coat home and can attest to its excellent warmth.  

The camel cashmere Fleurette coat:



Oooooh, I've wanted a pure cashmere coat all my adult life, but it always seemed like an unattainable luxury.  

For my outfit under the coat, I wore a cashmere sweater, wool skirt and wrapped a silk scarf around a necklace my friend made.


I also snapped up these wool/cashmere gloves with iPhone touch technology.  Very soft and warm! A nice little luxury to save my fingers while waiting for the L train.


Goodbye, puffy coat!  I vow to use it only in the most dire of circumstances.  :)