Smart Girl Chic: The Fur-Trimmed Parka

By Chelsea Fagan Monday, January 19, 2015

Welcome to the second installment of Smart Girl Chic, where we I take trendy/fresh/desirable items and find them for a much smarter price. Today we’ll be discussing the fur-trimmed parka, as I am headed up to northern Vermont (with a popover in Montreal) for my birthday, and thus am confronted with the fact that I own no inclement-weather coat. All of my coats are wool and easily dirtied and largely decorative. They don’t hold up in the snow, much less full-on blizzards. So I want to get a nice, chic parka with a pretty faux fur trim, hopefully one that reminds me of the Canada Goose his and hers coats that I saw on the most aggressively stylish French couple recently. (French women have a nauseating habit of being able to look slight and elegant while wearing puffer coats, it’s awful.)

Anyway, as I know that this is a coat and should a) be of substantial quality and b) hold up for at least a few seasons, these choices won’t be cheap cheap. But considering the Canada Goose ones on that couple were in the 850 dollar range:

I can only stand to save money from there. The coats I’m looking at are in the 100-200ish dollar range, which I’ve always found hits the right balance between “quality” and “not going broke for the privilege of owning it.” Right now we are in the prime sale period for winter coats, which I always try to wait for with investment items. (My goal is to get a coat that is worth 400 bucks, but in January, so it’s half to a third of the real price — and all of the coats here will be on sale.)

Also, note that I (in the spirit of #NeutralLife) am lusting after winter white and beige parkas because, well, I think they’re beautiful. But I know that it is impractical, and that I need to start thinking in terms of practicality when it comes to outerwear. (My camel and cream coats have cost a fortune in dry cleaning bills ALREADY.) So I will do my best to include some darker colors as well. Enjoy, and stay warm!