In order of appearance (these are not affiliate links):

Zara Lapel Coat (Black)

Zara Lapel Coat (Camel)

River Island Smart Overcoat In Grey

Jack & Jones Wool Dress Coat (Black)

Having at least one good coat in the Winter for going on dates, going downtown, going to events, or just when you want to look good is essential.

I'm going to give you some examples of coats I would highly recommend.

What To Wear Under A Coat

This is a general guideline I follow.

The first thing I do is I make sure I have a good neutral color underneath, as well as a neutral jean.

For shoes, you would probably want to go with boots or dress shoes depending on the formality of where you're going for coats like this.

You wouldn't wear sneakers, you wouldn't wear running shoes, you wouldn't wear casual loafers, you wouldn’t wear sandals, etc.

I think that's straightforward, but these are semi-formal kind of outfits is the main point, and your shoes need to match.

Unless where I’m going is going to be very formal, I will typically wear a slim fitting neutral colored shirt underneath (look for slim fit shirts with at least 2% elastane in them), with slim-fitting jeans (also with some elastane), and a pair of dressy boots (not to be confused with work boots, hiking boots, or Timberlands).

Zara Lapel Coat (Black)

This is the Zara Lapel Coat.

The one thing I want you to take note of for something like this is how it kind of tapers in the middle to streamline it for a physique that has a V-Taper.

That's super important.

Also, take note of the shoulders.

It's hard to find something in suit jackets or coats that aren't capped off with a square.

When you have a totally squared off shoulder, it creates a very boxy look as opposed to a tall, lean, slimmer looking physique.

It's not very complementary to a physique if it's totally boxed off.

Ideally you want to have the shoulder rounded off enough that it doesn't create that look.

That's why this coat in particular is so good.

A lot of coats (and suit jackets) have a major design flaw in that the shoulders cut at nearly a complete 90-degree angle, and they look terrible.

You want to make sure the shoulders aren't boxy, the coat is long enough, it’s tapered to your physique to make yourself appear slimmer, and the ideal color for this first coat would be black.

That would be my first recommendation.

The reason why it’s my first recommendation is that black pretty much goes with any outfit.

You can wear black under it, you can wear white under it, you could wear maroon red, you can wear almost anything under it because black matches with almost everything.

This is one of my go-to outfits in the Winter.

It’s simple, and looks amazing.

It's very neutral but still edgy, super easy to mix and match with your wardrobe, and has the most versatility.

As far as accessories, I might wear a scarf around this too (depending on the weather), and I always wear a watch, but that’s pretty much it.

Zara Lapel Coat (Camel)

Camel coats are very trendy right now.

This is the Zara Lapel Coat, in Camel color.

Camel is less neutral, meaning you won’t be able to put a lot of different colors under it, so it's less versatile than the black coat.

That’s why I don't recommend this being the first go-to color, and I always recommend black if you’re only going to pick one.

Black is the go-to color for every piece of clothing if you're only getting one (in most cases).

If you're on a budget, get the black one.

If you're trying to expand your wardrobe though and you have the funds, I would highly recommend getting a nice camel colored coat like this.

Again, the same sort of outfit works with this:

• Neutral colored slim fit shirt underneath
• Nice tapered jeans
  • (the only thing that goes with these coats are jeans or dress pants in my opinion).
• Dressy boots or dress shoes

Again, you want rounded off shoulders, with the coat tapered to your physique.

When you have a coat that looks like a rectangle on you it totally kills the aesthetic of it.

You want to get something that looks good on you, not just on a mannequin or on a model you’ve seen online.

Personally, I think the Zara coats look terrible on the models online, but on me they look awesome.

But, on the other side of the spectrum, one time I bought a $300 coat that looked awesome on a model online, and then when I got it and tried it on it looked horrible on me.

Those are perfect examples of why it is so important that you try coats on before you get locked into keeping one.

And by that I mean – Be careful about what you're ordering.

Make sure you have a good return policy on it so you can send it back if it's terrible, or try it on the store properly because what it looks like on one guy, could differ entirely from how it will look on you.

This jacket could easily be terrible looking on me if it had just a few inches of extra room in certain areas.

While the camel coat matches less colors, it has a bit more of a “WOW” factor than the black one.

This coat gets me a ton of compliments and I would highly recommend this as your second coat if you're looking to expand your wardrobe.

River Island Smart Overcoat In Grey

I prefer to wear this coat with white underneath and a lighter wash of jean.

I feel like the lighter colors complement the grey nicely, and I’m always wearing dark colors so it’s nice to mix it up, and this coat gives me the opportunity to wear some brighter colors for a change.

It doesn't mean you couldn't wear other colors with it, because you definitely can; this is just typically the outfit coordination I go for when I wear it.

This is a really flattering coat that fits snugly around the arms, and slims you out nicely.

One thing you have to be very careful of with these kinds of coats is that they're not too loose in the arms, because they can look really stupid if there's too much space in there.

Not only be aware of how it's going to fit on the torso, make sure you check your arms as well.

If I had a huge gap in the arms, this coat would go from looking amazing to looking horrible just from a few inches of extra material.

I mentioned it earlier but it’s very important so I’ll mention it again – It doesn't take very much for a jacket to go from good looking to bad looking just based on a few inches in the cut in a certain direction.

Make sure you try it on first and the store has a good return policy if you are shopping online.

Coats will either look good on you, or they won't.

Plain and simple.

By that I mean – Coats can’t really form fit to accommodate different body types, so it's either going to look good, or it's just not.

The only pieces of clothing less forgiving are suits in my opinion, so tread with caution when shopping online.

Jack & Jones Wool Dress Coat (Black)

If you look at the collar on this one, you'll notice its more similar to a tuxedo style than the first Black Lapel Coat.

If you're going to a fancy event, fancy dinner, fancy whatever, this is a bit of a step up in formality over the first black coat.

Granted, the model dressed it down with an orange hoodie underneath so it's a bit harder to exemplify this, but the versatility of this coat for all levels of formality is the best among this whole list in my opinion.

It is a “dress coat”.

There's not a huge difference between the first black coat and this one, and largely it will come down to individual preference as well, but I think that coats like this with the more obvious frontal collars are a bit fancier.

This is a dress coat you can wear to formal events, as opposed to the other coats that probably won’t cut it at very formal outings.

Now, there’s not a huge difference like I said, but it’s a bit more complimentary for dressy occasions, although it can also be worn during semi-formal occasions like dates, family gatherings, going out with your friends downtown, or whatever it may be.

If you were to choose just one coat, I would recommend getting the first black one, or this one.

It's more of a personal preference based on the type you want, and I don’t think you can really go wrong with either.

Again, this is something you could easily wear on a date any time.

Key being the rounded off shoulders, not squared.

Tapered around the waist.

Taper is key, as you want your coat flattering to your physique, you don't want it to be rectangular like all the other guys out there who don’t know how to dress themselves.

If it's too big for you, you'll know because it's not going to look form fitted to your arms, it's not going to look form fitted to your waist, it's just going to be like a big giant blob rectangle hanging off of you.

These are the go-to coat styles for this winter in my opinion.

These can really spice up an outfit, and pretty much make the outfit in many situations.

If you're going to be going out this winter and you're outdoors for any extended period of time, your outfit is going to be mostly based around the coat.

The coat is a pretty integral piece in the wintertime because you can't get away with wearing pullover ugly hoodies and lazy garbage like that.

You need to edge it up and get some style.

Get a nice coat. That's my suggestion.

Coats Sizing Checklist

• Snug to the arms
• Snug on the shoulders, which are somewhat rounded off as opposed to blatantly boxy with a sharp 90 degree angle (you don’t want it to look like you have shoulder pads on)
• You have some space to move your arms away from your body, but not so much that you're sacrificing the taper that you would get from a properly fitted coat
  • This is the number one mistake men with strong V-Tapers make, is they will get a coat that has full range of motion on the top. This will sound ridiculous because who would get a coat without a full range of motion you’re probably thinking. Unless you’re willing to custom tailor the living hell out of your coats, if you want a coat off the rack that fits a broad shoulder with slim waist physique amazingly (classic V-Taper), you will have to sacrifice some range of motion at the top in order to ensure the coat tapers to your waist enough that it doesn’t look like a giant rectangle tarp dangling off you.