Challenged by Outerwear

I have issues.

In last night's post, I mentioned freezing my patootie off in San Francisco. Let me elaborate.

I'm a middle aged women equipped with naturally-formed fat-based insulation, living in California. In other words, for the most part, I stay reasonably warm in winter without worrying too much about outerwear. Yesterday, though, it was chilly in San Francisco as it has been in much of Northern California this past week or so.

I had brought a coat with me on the trip, but because I didn't need it when we got off the bus at 2 p.m., I left it on the bus rather than carry it around with me. When the sun started going down, marine dampness moved in, and a breeze kicked up, I got cold. All I was wearing was a pair of slacks, a cotton knit shirt, and a light weight sweater. Brrrrr!

Now, why didn't I take my coat? Because I have issues. Outerwear issues. Specifically, I haven't found a coat I really liked for maybe 20 or 30 years.

At some time in the distant past--like around the late 1970s/early 1980s--I think I had one of those down-packed corduroy coats that made everyone look like the Michelin Tire Man--except maybe Karen Carpenter. I didn't like it.

Then, the next coat I can recall was sometime in the 1990s, when I decided I wanted something more grown up, and I bought a long (calf length) black and white houndstooth coat.

It still lives in my coat closet. I didn't actually HATE it, but it felt too long and too formal to wear with more casual clothes, and I think the last time I wore a dress was probably around 1994. So I still own it and I can wear it if I need a long, black and white houndstooth coat--because it will probably never really go out of style--but most of the time it doesn't work for me.

Next, I decided I needed a more casual coat--something I could wear on weekends to the kids' soccer games and football games; something I could wear in the car on the way to work on chilly mornings. So I bought a black hooded fleece jacket and I was happy for a year or so. Then the fleece started developing little fleece balls. White fuzz, lint, and threads appeared because it seemed to always be full of static. It just never really looked clean. So I put it in my car trunk one day about eight years ago and only took it out to move it to the trunk of my next car and maybe to wear it once or twice when I would have died of hypothermia otherwise.

A couple years ago, I picked a pretty blue ultrasuade jacket with a detachable hood and some realistic looking fake fur around the hood. The body of the jacket is lightly stuffed with down or something like that. Friends and relatives complimented me. And that's the coat I still have. Now it too seems full of static--after all, the ultrasuade is a synthetic of some sort. And the light bit of down? Carrying it around on my arm feels a lot like carrying a pillow around. So you see why I like the coat best when it was shoved under the seat of the party bus?

So all afternoon, while I froze, I looked at women around me, wearing sensible coats. Something not too bulky but warm. Something that didn't create its own little static universe. Something that wasn't stuffed full of dead birds.

As you see, I have issues. I can't seem to pick out a coat I like for more than ten minutes. I thought about going shopping to look for something else, but I don't trust myself to pick out a coat anymore. So I'll ask you: Do you like your winter coat or jacket? If so, what kind do you have? What do you like about it? If you don't like your coat or jacket, what kind do you have and what don't you like? Maybe if I can get some input, I can go out and find something I'll actually wear! Remember that it's not freezing cold here--on the 15 days a year when I'd actually need a coat or jacket, it's probably between 35 and 50 degrees out, and I'm likely to be outdoors for short periods of time. So what do you think? What should I look for?

Here's what I think. I think I'd like a low-hip or thigh length jacket, natural fibers of some sort, comfortable (i.e., not stiff and not too fitted), and in a dark color--black would be excellent. I like the look of leather but I always wonder whether leather jackets are warm? Or what about wool?

I have issues. Can you help?!