Give a WARM welcome to Guest Editor, Daisy Ann!

This Tuesday, I dragged Varissa out of the apartment and went on a Winter Coat Hunt. I had warm things, yes, but I didn’t have the quintessential winter coat that I was in—let’s face it—desperate need of, especially since it’s still early December and we’ve already seen some light snow/ice in the morning. I didn’t want to spend more than 20 dollars, and I was fully equipped with a list of things I wanted. I was on the search for the perfect coat. I managed to get lucky at Ross, and found my dream coat for 14.99.
Considering my recent success, Varissa asked me to write this for her. So here we go!

Things to consider while shopping for a winter coat:
1.    Consider your existing wardrobe. Much to Varissa’s chagrin, my wardrobe is almost entirely black, with some grays. I tend to rely on accessories for my pop of color, when I feel like it. (Read: hot pink pointed ballet flats.) Because of this, I would have been relatively safe if I had decided to go for a brightly colored or patterned coat. There was actually a lovely blue coat that I looked at, but it didn’t fit me right. In the end, I went with a nice heather gray coat—almost as easy to match as black, but refreshing and light.

2.    Be picky about the fit, and don’t worry about the size. This is sort of a personal crusade of mine. I think we worry about the number as opposed to the fit, which is nothing but bad. Would you rather look good in something I size bigger than you normally wear, or look bad just because you managed to fit into a S or M? That’s what I thought. Alright, I’m off my soap box.
a.    Consider the sleeves. You want to be able to raise your arms to shoulder height without the sleeves riding too far up your arm. Alternatively, you want to make sure it doesn’t look like you’re seven and wearing your father’s coat. (I tried on a checkered gray one that did just this.)

b.    Make sure you can button it! With my lovely apple shape, I made sure I could comfortably button every single button from waist to neck before I bought it. This is where the size thing came in too; I actually went two sizes up from my normal size, because I wanted to be sure it would fit, and it’s generally a good idea for coats to be a bit bigger so you have room to move and layer things.  
c. Consider the length of the coat. I actually have a proper winter coat, but I was silly and went for the dramatic look of a knee length which looks very weird on my proportions. Something waist length that went just past my belt line was what I went for in the end.

 
3.    Finally, make sure you’ll be warm enough. This coat is still cotton, so when it gets to be late winter and the ground is covered in snow, I may have to layer things up with a hoodie underneath. It was a sacrifice I was willing to make, which leads us to my final and most important point.

4.    Make sure you love the coat. Sure, I like to wear long cardigans and I’ll have to do some finagling with the layers to make sure it doesn’t look silly. Sure, it may not be quite warm enough for the dead of winter. But for what I was looking for? It was the perfect coat.

About the Author:

Daisy Ann, as I affectionately call her, has been my friend and roommate for the past three months. She is as awesome as they come. She is a junior at UNT, studying to become an English major, and she has this dry sense of humor that never fails to come out of nowhere and send me into fits of giggles. She is eclectic, and honest, and knowledgeable about every subject on the planet. She can cook like no other and has helped me out a time or two (or more). She has amazing taste in music. She is always there when I need her-and always there when I need her to talk me out of buying something. We bonded through weekly trips to Plato's closet and Walmart, in that order. She is slowly starting to throw on something other than Black (yay!) and I am so proud of her, though I love her regardless of what she wears. Oh, and I learned today that she screams like a banshee when she is scared.