You are on Team Puffer if you prefer to wear puffer coats and jackets, or wear them most of the time. You are on Team Other Outerwear if you prefer to wear non-puffer coats and jackets. There are endless variations on the puffer and all of them count. They can be down or polyester, gear or fashion, and any length, silhouette, colour, pattern or thickness. The same holds for other types of outerwear. Wool coats, sweater coats, shackets, leather jackets, anoraks, aviators, bombers, trench coats, raincoats, shearling, faux fur teddies, and utility jackets are all good.

I have a large and varied outerwear capsule because I’m outside on foot most of the time, and the climate here in the Pacific Northwest demands it. I LOVE my wool coats, trench coats, faux shearling toppers, and anorak because they instantly add a dressy chic integrity to my outfits. I also LOVE my puffers, both short and long, because their warmth, ease, comfort, and practicality cannot be beat. Although I am not a sporty or very casual dresser, I feel great in my puffers.

I have many more items of other outerwear than puffers, and my wool coats get the most wear of all. But my short puffers get a lot of wear too, especially when we’re frequently out on long walks, trails, and at the beach with our Yorkies. If you asked me this question ten years ago, I would have batted for Team Other Outerwear by a billion percent. Today, I can’t pick a side so I’m sitting this one out on the bench.

Over to you. Do you bat for Team Puffer or Team Other Outerwear? Tell us why and no batting for both sides. Maybe you wear puffers most of the time, but would prefer to wear wool coats? If you can’t pick a side, join me on the bench where I’m serving Indonesian Rijsttafel, with South African melktert for dessert.