i bought this jacket in preparation for a week and a half of washington, DC in january weather for the inauguration. i also brought my thick wool coat and trench coat (in case of rain). surprisingly, this coat was warmer than my wool coat, so i used this for just about everything. it held up well to standing outside in 15-20 degree weather for hours, while waiting and then watching for our new president to get sworn in. it is easy to wash in the washing machine, and i let it air dry. i have gotten several compliments on it. i also bought the matching hat, but i will be returning that due to a weird fit. my only complaint with this jacket is that you need to be very careful and patient with the zipper. sometimes it takes a couple tries to get it to line up right, but it always does in the end. but other than that, i love this coat. it is like a full body ugg boot, where it is warm and soft and wonderful for such a wide range of temperatures. i am generally a small but i got this in a medium so i could add some light layers underneath. it runs a little small, so you may want to get a size higher than you normally would.
I like how it looks. It is warm and cozy. However the zipper is very difficult to zip up when wearing the coat. I can zip it a little, step into it, and continue zipping, but I cannot start zipping it while wearing it.
I wanted a long coat with hood and thought this would be great for semi-formal events. That way I wouldn't need to wear a hat or wear bulky clothes when I'm all dressed up and going out for the evening. I also wanted to keep legs warm should I need to wear a skirt or dress. It was not warm at all. I had to wear a 2 sweaters under it to feel warm. In addition it was way too boxy...I felt like I was 20yrs older than my age. It just wasn't for me...so I returned it.
I would, however, recommend it for everyday use when layering is the winter way of life. Although fussing with a 2-way zipper plus buttons was a bit annoying.Patience is required!!
