Staying Warm in the Summer - Buying Out of Season

It's been about 90 degrees in Philly and summer is in full swing, so I bought a greatcoat - a knee-length, double-breasted wool and cashmere beast from Crombie, and I expect it should keep me warm and toasty as I turn my collar up against the beating sun.

Why would anyone buy a winter coat in the peak of shorts season? Good question, and I'm glad I pretended you asked. For one, autumn/winter apparel is exponentially more exciting and interesting to me than shorts and tees, so I keep looking at it no matter what, basically. The second and more important reason is that buying out of season is often when you get the most for your money.

Compared to an MSRP of $2450, this coat was $480 during a Barneys Warehouse's extra 60% off sale, which brings this to about an 80% discount. That's still not a small amount of money and no, I wouldn't have paid that much for it and you shouldn't either (in fact, I generally scoff at most MSRPs), but against others in the market that is still a very good price - lower than SuitSupply, lower than Eidos, Burberry, etc. where comparable quality usually starts in the upper hundreds conservatively, especially when you factor in that this is a true knee-length, double-breasted heavy coat compared to the majority of overcoats that are usually shorter and lighter.

However, it's not always a good idea for everyone to be buying linen in the winter and coats in the summer. In fact, it can be really bad in the wrong situation. Consider taste - buying out of season is not an on-trend thing to do. At best, it puts you a year behind if you are trying to stay on the vanguard of  #menswear style. And if your style is changing frequently you may find that what you bought eight months ago doesn't work for you just as the weather finally permits you to wear it.

Hmm...don't mind if I do

Losing or gaining weight throughout the year can also make an advanced purchase pretty much worthless. As I get older, I'm finding some of the slimmer garments of my youth have started to feel like straightjackets (don't get old - fair warning). I still like a lot of them, but the combination of appreciating some less slim fits and actually getting bigger myself sometimes makes me feel like this:

However, if you know what you like and feel relatively assured your tastes and body dimensions won't change drastically over the course of the year, consider looking at out of season items in preparation for next year. Invest in your future, but pay less. The worst time to buy a down parka is at the beginning of winter when everyone starts to realize that it may once again get cold.

And winter is coming.

Rick Owens x J. Snow AW16