Wearing my Canada Goose puffer today. Very casual with my freshly reheeled Ugg moto boots. And a little sleepy Sunny dog photobomb.

Forgot to say how much I like your Burberry scarf with the Zara puffer.

Thanks, Isabelle. It's a good match.

Janet, love that your puffer is BLUE.

I can’t get over how many jackets & coats some of you own! I don’t need much of one here, but I’ve gone through winters on the High Plains of the American West, Berlin, smaller towns in Germany and the Midwest, with basically two coats—the long wool one I posted about a month ago and this one, which now has a lovely, totally authentically-earned patina. https://m.llbean.com/product.h.....sp=a#23786 Both are decidedly unpuffy. I was considering a long puffer coat, but then we moved to “the sunshine state”.

Maybe it’s a difference in how we think about coats. I put a coat on over “what I’m wearing”, choosing the one least likely to interfere with what I have on. It sounds to me like many of you consider them as part of your outfit, which makes me wonder what you do in all those hours outdoors (or do you just not heat the buildings?)

"It sounds to me like many of you consider them as part of your outfit": Fashiontern, yes, that's what it is really, when you live in a place where you must put a big coat on everytime you step out. Then, most interactions happen with your coat on, even inside, as we walk in and out of places. Getting your kids at the childcare (in &out), grocery shopping (in&out), walking from parking to building to office (often, in&out), coffee shop, school, errands, public transportation... In winter, in an urban setting, the main problem is feeling too warm because it's not convenient to remove and hold your coat (it's simply better to keep it on). And in colder climates, you do need a tougher, bulkier coat. Really, at this point it shouldn't be called a coat, but "gear". An item so bulky that if it's not on you need two arms to hold it (my special thoughts to young parents standing in line to see Santa in shopping malls), not to mention the pesky accessories that tend to travel in all directions, oppositional defiant hats and gloves suddenly slipping away between the folds of the coat or lazy whinny scarves ready for a nap pulling and dragging behind as you walk. And in restaurants! You almost need a full seat just for one coat (think Baymax from Big Hero 6). In short, going out in the winter demands serious organizational and management skills.
You are lucky to dispose of the luxury of considering your inside winter clothes as your main outfit. When I lived abroad in warmer climate, I thought this was an incredible booster to one's quality of life. People don't realize how fortunate they are to be able to throw on a relatively speaking lighter coat as an afterthought.

krishnidoux, thank your for a great explanation and description. I totally agree. But I also know from experience how difficult it can be to make people who come from a warmer (or at least milder) climate understand what a REAL winter is like, and how to dress for really low temperatures.

fashiontern and others, after reading krishnidoux' description, you may understand why people who literally have to live in their coats for half of the year may want to have more than one or two.

I only have one puffer and wear it so much. It is purple (my knit tunic is blue in the photo) and I am really not a purple person at all!!

I have considered a vest or an additional one but it has not got to the top of the priority list yet.

Definitely a keeping it real picture.

Even though I live in a very cold Canadian city, I still think that less cold places, like Vancouver, Wellington NZ and the PNW are VERY COLD FEELING places and I would still wear a monster puffer in those places. (I used to live in victoria. I don’t think people in very cold places understand the humid cold and how bone chilling it is.) The main difference is that I wouldn’t wear the heavy snow boots or mitts in those places. But the puffer is very useful.

Fashiontern, one mitigating factor on the puffers is that they are expensive so you tend to have fewer of them. Also, as Krish noted, they take up a lot of space.

Smittie, fewer? It seems to me like there are quite a few people here with quite a few puffers. And thanks for pointing out that there are some people to whom Berlin and the High Plains are indeed cold. I suppose the difference is somewhat like the heat here—the problem isn’t the heat per se, it is that it does not cool off at night/in the morning, and it stays that way for at least six months.
The Cat, if you are inclined to learn something about a place you do not live, take a look at the information I posted to you last week, specifically at the Plains states. It probably not be very difficult where you are to find information on Northern European states, and then you would know something about someplace other than your own environment.

Smittie, THANK YOU. AT LAST, I have validation for this awfully damp and humid cold I live in. It was 1 Celsius today, and very cold. Grey, misty, no sun and you are cold to your core if you don't wrap up. Sam and I wrapped up. Walking to yoga, I had my thermal hoodie and puffer hoodie over my head.

Fashiontern, you might have been thinking of me. I do have a lot of jackets. I've had people tell me they don't have any jackets. I can only surmise that they never go outside.

Yesterday we had a little snow in the morning, and in the afternoon we went birding. It was cold and windy. I wore my heavy parka with hat, gloves and scarf (also long underwear). I was not too warm!

This morning it was 15F. I wore my medium weight down jacket to walk the dogs. Later a friend came over and we had coffee on the deck. It was very chilly due to the wind. Normal people would have had coffee inside, but we were outside with the dogs. (My friend insists that her dog can't come inside because he would do bad things.)

I'm validated, too. Thank you, smittie! North Texas is dry enough to get seriously hot in the summer, and humid and windy enough to get really nasty cold in the winter. I have a lot of puffers and other coats because I really feel the cold.

Smittie, I too used to live in Victoria (Victoria BC right?). Yes! I confirm too. The humid cold, wind and cold rain make it difficult in the winter. Nothing like the East's biting cold (which, mind you, is also very damp at times), but still, not your romantic-walk-in-the-park weather for sure! However in terms of style, the possibility of wearing shoes again just a few days later was a big awesome. There was seldom any snow on the ground and when there was, it was too special to boo. There wasn't barely any ice. Ice is a big one. It's in BC actually that I discovered the power of the puffer, and more precisely the sleevelss puffer jacket worn inside or outside. I realized it was my back that was often freezing in this kind of damp weather, and once that part was protected life became very different. Antoher very good piece to have in Victoria and in Seattle (where I also lived when I did my doctorate) is a super thick joggers such as the ones by Brunette The Label: https://brunettethelabel.com/c.....joggers-pr

Ginger, the two years we lived on the High Plains were near Amarillo. Lots of people have heard “Oooooooklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping o-er the Plains”, and that’s right next door, but it can be so hard to get people to believe that Texas can be cold! After we moved from there, my little boy was nearly convinced that it had always been hot, because that’s what everyone told him, lol. I pulled out some pix of sledding (by the interstate overpass, because there weren’t any hills) and of snow piled up in our backyard to remind him.

Krishna, keeping the back warm is so key! I learned that when I was in Berlin. Getting cold there made me feel so stiff and creaky and miserable. I think the reason I didn’t get more coats was that they can’t really get dirty with so many layers between me and them (stuff on the outside can usually be wiped off). I also don’t think I had the kind of days you described—I stopped at the bank, market, etc on the way to or from work, where I was inside for hours. Even if it’s a little chilly, I make myself take off my coat if it’s colder outside, because otherwise you’ll just freeze when you do step outdoors! Bodysuits were my secret weapon to stay warm.

I live in the desert, so we have a few cold days each year when a puffer feels just right. They are also handy for traveling.

Bonnie, I missed you. You look sensational and adorable as always.

I am so late here! A million apologies.

I have few puffers, considering my climate. A light casual one (not quite as warm a pink in the photo, and brighter) that I wear to and from the gym and on walks when it is not too cold out and possibly damp, and a heavier down one. I also have a red puffer vest that I only wear when I visit the mountains in fall or spring. It's not really practical here for more than a few days a year. Or now and again for shovelling snow or skating...

Vintage puffer!

Shevia, Wow! Your puffer is so cool! I can totally see it with an aviator hat and sunglasses.

Suz, you are Queen Adorable in Her Puffer.

Jaime, you crack me up. Lets see it on!

I was hoping to get photos of all the puffers that I don't have finds for, but I seem to have failed.

That I have finds for:
Angie twin on two!
And a very warm black one from MEC.

Plus:
A cheap black Costco one that I use for running around in. It's not bad, I've just had it a while.
A short, thin black Edie Bauer one, great for single digit temps and for layering.
A red vest from MEC, very old.
OH, also very old, a navy blue gear MEC one, worn for shoveling the drive and skiing.

I just bought this one. I’m cold and just can’t stay warm, so I ordered this one. Not pricey but does the job. I love the color.

In every city, in every town,
Every coat is filled with down.
Probably, it will be black,
Even if it looks like a sack.
It will keep you warm as toast.
But I wear one in green the most.