What I Wore Today - The Crombie Great Coat

Okay, so yeah, I get a little jealous when I see pictures of other guys running around in light jackets in the middle of December. It's been grim in Philly recently and more days than not it's pretty frigid, pretty grey, or some combination of the two. Despite that, I could never give up the cold weather entirely for one simple reason: it affords the opportunity to wear some heavy outerwear.

This past summer, I did a short post about buying offseason when I picked up a Crombie "Theodore" great coat in the dead heat of summer. It sat in my closet for months before the weather called for it, but the wait was well worth it. It's a double-breasted monster in heavy wool and cashmere, with dramatic lapels, martingale back, horn buttons, and a below-knee length hard to find in an ocean of mid-thigh length topcoats. It's got enough weight to make you really feel it on your shoulders, keep you warm in the real cold, and drape in a way lighter fabrics can't match. The design and construction quality are very traditional but outstanding, and up close they're even better - a test most garments can't stand up to.

Gratuitous watch pic

When I was just starting to make an effort in dressing better years ago, I bought a Zara DB overcoat at MSRP around $280, which in comparison looks and feels like an absolute charade of synthetic shenanigans and cut-rate construction. It's one of those purchases that make me cringe in retrospect and bust out some high school level alliteration, but we all had to start somewhere I guess. At less than twice the price I paid for the Zara coat, it's a little hard to describe how much better the Crombie is, but I'll give it a shot. Imagine you have two choices in front of you: the first is an Aston Martin, and the second is a go kart someone painted to look like a car. Or maybe you have the opportunity to bid on a date with Giselle, or you could spend half the money to go on a date with your uncle in a dress and some lipstick. I don't know which uncle - the one with more body hair.

I guess what I'm trying to say is you can't fake quality, and real cold calls for a real big coat sometimes.