If you're referring to the thinsulate in J.Crew stuff, I bought a peacoat with thinsulate and I find I have to layer under it during colder weather in CA (when it hits around 50F or lower), and if it's windy it can be a bit chilly. In my estimation a puffer is much warmer. However, I get cold easily and don't get that hot in coats, so you might want to wait and see what other people say. :)

Yep, I had fallen for a J Crew coat. I really need both a puffer AND a new coat, but I can't afford both, or even one at the present moment :( I was hoping to find something that could perform double duty.

Hmm, well it's going to get a LOT colder here than 50 degrees. OTOH, I always layer anyway during the winter...so it's not really a hypothetical situation for me.

Agh, money woes. I know what you mean. :( If you're willing to layer thinsulate could work well I'm sure! On the upswing, if you do want to layer you also have a spring coat for when it starts to get warmer and you'd pack the puffer away.

Buy a puffer for warmth. I have a J. Crew Thinsulate coat and it isn't much good under 40 degrees (for me, at least). I'm on the lookout for a puffer this winter. Layering with the thinsulate coat just isn't as toasty as a puffer. :)

Buy the puffer first. It's already snowed twice here, and it's not even Halloween yet, so chances are very high we're in for a rough winter.

My Jcrew coat has thinsulate and like LE it isn't as good under 40 degrees - especially if it is windy. Also, it spots in the rain or snow. With that said, I think some of Jcrew coats have much thicker wool. If you opted for one of those, and added thinsulate, you might be okay - but I ordered a coat like that and returned it - not just because of the fit, but because the coat was too darn heavy!

On the other hand, my puffer can be TOO warm. I can wear it in the coldest weather of all, with nothing but a slinky dress underneath, and be toasty as can be. If I'm not going to be walking outside much, I will skip it and wear the Jcrew and be chilly for a bit, rather than overheated indoors. But I think you spend more time commuting outdoors, so the puffer - even a too-warm one - is probably a wise investment.

I would also vote for buying a puffer, given your climate. The fabric of a puffer is also more practical in terms of snowing/raining/sleeting. My (5-year-old, black) puffer is the coat I reach for most from November until March.

I haven't owned a puffer since I was a little kid, so maybe I have adapted to using a wool coat even in freezing temps, but this winter has me worried since we got our first snow even before Halloween! I really hate puffers so this is a real bummer...

I got my first puffer in years last winter, and I will never go back to just wool coats again. I am on the hunt for both this year, but the puffer is definitely my first priority. Chicagoans understand the need to wear a puffer over a nice suit, if that's what it has to come to. :)

If I were in Chicago I would DEFINITELY have a puffer, even an ugly one. I don't think it gets quite as cold here. I could be wrong. What do you think Laura?

I'm so picky about puffers that I don't know if I'm going to be successful. I refuse to wear a black or a brown one. Can't stand them. They look like sleeping bags or garbage bags to me. I'm hoping for a sort of après ski look, at the very least.

Also, does it really make sense to get a short puffer? I like the look of them more but it probably defeats the purpose of wearing one, right? I'm just concerned about length because I do want one that is longer, but not SO long that it swallows me up....which is easy to do since I am short.

Thumbs up for the puffer too. But it HAS to be long (knee length). I have a very warm, thick wool coat and it’s much warmer than my short down puffer. But a long down puffer is the warmest thing on earth and you have to layer underneath too.

Maya, I have a black puffer and don't think I look like I'm wearing a garbage bag! :)

I completely agree that a knee-length puffer, fitted, preferably with a removable hood, is a way to go.

Marianna, this is one of those weird personal hangups I have. I don't think black puffers look like garbage bags on other people, just like I don't think white camis look like underwear on other people...but somehow when *I* wear them, that is what I think! I know it makes no sense but I can't help it!

I was all set to buy this one but it isn't in my size :( Someone tell me they saw it in person and it's fugly or not warm enough or something to make me feel better...

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/.....Type=PDPZ1

Another vote for down coats -- preferably knee-length and hooded -- over Thinsulate for warmth. That said, I did live in NYC for years and never got a down coat till I moved further north. (On the other hand, I was layering fleece vests under my wool coat, so that might not be an unqualified endorsement of wool either.)

There are definitely down coats out there that aren't as bulky-looking as the typical quilted or baffled puffer. Mine (a DKNY coat from maybe 2004, so I can't link to a photo, sorry) doesn't have visible quilting from the outside, so I think it looks trimmer. At least, friends tell me it looks sleeker than their quilted puffers.

If you're looking to be cheered up about the Macy's coat, how about this: It's not petite? And there seem to be lots of coats on Bluefly for 10% more off today, plus a good deal or two at the Burlington Coat Factory....

Maya, I have also fallen in love with one of the J Crew coats out this year - the Carlin coat in blackberry which I tried on in the store last week. I LOVE the color - and it looked so cute on but it was awfully thin and I can't imagine that thinsulate would make it any better for real winter.

My winter puffer (also Kenneth Cole Reaction) which I bought at nearly the end of last winter is almost identical to the one that you linked to at Macy's except mine is an ivory/cream rather than champagne (which I might even like better). I think it looks pretty great - maybe you could hunt it down at one of the stores?