Choose the material of your winter coat

Buying a nice coat is no small feat. It is essential to always look at the composition label of your products. Indeed, before being a fashion garment that adds style to your outfit, the coat remains an unstoppable essential piece against the cold. Do you need a coat? To do this, it is good to choose quality fabrics that will keep you warm all winter long to avoid unnecessary layers of clothing.

Warm materials for a beautiful coat

When choosing a coat, today there are fabrics that protect without being thick while remaining elegant and chic even in polar cold.

Wool, ideal for a coat

It is the ideal fabric to protect from the cold. It is a very good insulator since it has the ability to trap a large amount of air.

It is a healthy and non-allergenic texture, it is composed of raw keratin. This fabric is a breathable fiber that regulates sweating and humidity thanks to its scale system that regulates body temperature.

Indeed, its scales open and close according to changes in temperature. It is said that wool breathes. It is therefore healthy and comfortable to wear. It is an unprocessed, renewable and biodegradable self-cleaning material that requires few washes. The short pea coat is the perfect coat with this material, or also any type of structured wool coat or straight coat.

The coat must be made up of at least 50% to protect against the cold, or even 60% to be really effective in the event of extreme cold. The famous merino wool insulates against heat in summer and keeps you warm in winter.

Cashmere, the warmest for a coat

This texture deserves its reputation. In addition to having insulating properties, it is soft and chic. Indeed, it reduces thermal bridges and allows the wearer to stay at the right temperature, but also to be protected from the heat in high season.

This fabric comes from the coat of goats from the region of the same name. It is a mountainous area that includes part of India, China and Pakistan. When winter comes, the goats of this region adorn themselves with their down. This allows them to protect themselves from the cold, since temperatures in this region can drop to -40°C. This fur is reputed to be 3 times more insulating than sheep's wool.

Apart from intense production contexts, the production of traditional, high-quality cashmere is not cruel to animals. This kind of activity is subject to strict regulations. Traditional cashmere producers have to wait until early spring for the goats to shed their wool in a natural and authentic way.

Short or long, buy it from recognized brands that will guarantee a good cut and in tune with the times.

Alpaca, for a very warm and light coat

Alpaca is a wool whose thermal properties are close to cashmere. It is a very soft and protective texture and ultra light. It comes in sheet or hairy version. It is an excellent luxury alternative. The softest is baby alpaca wool and in a more luxurious and rare version vicuña. This woolen material comes from alpacas raised in the Andes Cordillera in Peru, Bolivia and Chile. Go for a well-cut long alpaca coat to suit your lifestyle in natural colors.

For an ultra-luxury variation, vicuña (same family as alpacas) is the must-have used by major fashion houses and luxury brands and adapted to harsh seasons. It is a luxurious weave and only a few collections are found each year.

Thermoregulating silk for a coat

Light, comfortable and pleasant to wear, silk has the advantage of allow the skin to breathe during the summer and to warm up in the midst of harsh winters. For outwear models, it is found mixed with woollens in many models. In addition, the models of coats composed with silk are flexible and elegant.

The history of silk dates back between 3000 and 2000 BC The story continues with China, which marketed this precious fabric, but without ever revealing the secrets of its manufacture. The art of making silk was then gradually transmitted to other civilizations. You can also wear a coat with a silk lining.

The down coat

No doubt, the down coat is a very insulating coat, in down jacket or parka, short coat or long coat, choosing a model of this type is a good option and offers an optimal level of protection.

The down feather is a layer of fine feathers that lie under the more resistant outer feathers. Powdery down is a specialized type of down found only among a few groups of birds. Down can absorb moisture and become damp, and it is one of the best thermal insulation materials in the world. Down feather belongs to unprocessed and environmentally friendly insulation materials.

Other materials: choosing your winter coat

For a cheaper coat pattern, we recommend that you look to blended fabrics but ideally containing 50% wool for your all-grey winter coat and peacoat patterns and avoid coats that use processed fabrics that do not only are very polluting but also not very protective, with the exception of polar materials. Ask for advice before buying your winter coats and down jackets and choose a coat that will suit your needs and your budget. In addition, mixed wool coats, in addition to the attractive price, have the advantage of being less protective, therefore perfect for mid-season or southern regions.

The polyester coat

Polyester is a synthetic texture derived from petroleum. It is the most used textile in the world and it is found mixed in many coats.

If it is a comfortable fabric for sports activities, polyester retains heat but it is not very breathable and tends to develop perspiration. This synthetic texture used as a mixture for winter pieces makes it possible to limit the price compared to a 100% natural piece, but its weight must remain a minority in the composition. Polyester is a polluting material, and a mixture with other materials makes it impossible to recycle the fibers, to choose your winter coat we do not recommend its use.

The Acrylic Coat

Acrylic is a synthetic fiber often used for economic reasons as a substitute for woollens or mixed with them. It is soft light and soft and silky and wrinkle-resistant. It retains temperature but with better breathability than polyester. However, it pills easily and quickly loses its hold. Often associated with woollens to soften the touch, too high a proportion leads to inevitable pilling. Inexpensive, it is widely used for outerwear, especially in mixtures to buy a cheaper coat.

From an ecological point of view, Acrylic and Polyester are very polluting, since they are also made from petroleum and require a large amount of Energy for their manufacture. In addition, they release micro-particles released during washing which will directly pollute our oceans.

As you will have understood, it is better to choose a coat made in good conditions with textiles that respect our environment.

To conclude, choosing your warm coat inevitably involves choosing the fabrics with which it is made, independently of the style and silhouette rendering, so that it retains all its functionality. Indeed, it is important to turn to fabrics and articles of certified or labeled origin on the one hand for the quality and durability of the coat, but also to reduce the environmental impact of the textile industry which is increasingly heavy.

Regarding the size, the cut or the colors, for an ideal silhouette, come and read our article containing our advice for choosing a coat adapted to your morphology.

It's up to you to find the coat of your dreams for this year!