The first time I wore this coat is was 10 degrees and despite wearing multiple layers underneath, the top half of my body never warmed up. The next day in similar weather, I wore my 10 year old Baxter State parka, and my upper body was much warmer. No contest. However, my legs were colder because it is not as long. In addition if you like to ditch your bag sometimes and just carry your phone, wallet and keys be advised that there are not enough secure inside pockets for this. This is one zippered inside pocket, and one pocket suitable for carrying a small packet of tissues. The only thing this coat has going for it, is the storm flap on the hood, otherwise I would have given it one star. All in all, I'm sorry I bought this coat. I wish Bean would make the Baxter State parka knee length or thereabouts, and for me that would be the ideal functional winter coat.
This is my 2nd 3/4 length down coat from LLBean. I still have the first one for several years now and it is in great condition despite wearing it a lot but I wanted another. It is very warm, attractive, and really helps to fend off the cold here in upper NH.
We're in the middle of winter and the coat is warm and comfortable. The worst part for me when it's cold is the wind and this coat protects well against it. I find this hood a better fit than the previous one I bought. I returned that one because the zipper wouldn't work and that is the one reason I give the coat a good rating. The double zipper can be a pain, though in the coat I have now it works fine.
For reference I'm 5'3", 33" 24" 35" and got a Regular XS. When I first got the coat I was really pleased with how lightweight it was, and when I put it on it felt warm. I've been wearing it for a few weeks now, though, and there are some big issues. One: the inside is lined with normal clothing lining material (the kind you usually see inside suits), and because the coat has an easy-fit sort of shape the whole inside feels cool when the cold air has been blowing around the bottom. It only really feels cozy when I wear a sweater underneath even when it's well above the temperature it is rated for. There is fleece at the wrists but it is loose and doesn't keep the wind out. Another issue is that there is a pocket on the inside that looks like it is made for the old cell phones, and I'm not sure why they haven't updated the size for smartphones. Also, when I zip it all the way up the zipper digs into my chin, but if I don't zip it up cold air gets in and makes the inside of the neck area cold because there's no warm material on the inside. This might be remedied if I got the petite size, but then I think the arms of the coat would be too short. But my biggest issue is the hood. If you want to hold it closed, you need to fasten the velcro on the two sides, but even when I'm not wearing a scarf it fits tightly around, and when I do have a scarf on it actually can't reach around to fasten. The hood is very large in height, though, so if I just pull it over my head it droops over my eyes and a gust of wind can blow it off my head. Lately I've been holding on to one of the tabs to keep it up. The other issue about the velcro is that the hook-y side is very sticky! When I don't have it fastened (which is most of the time because as I said, it doesn't reach around easily), it sticks to everything else. When I take it off it always sticks to my sweaters and my backpack, and it put a pull in a sweater the other day. Right now the weather has gotten cold so I'm making do with it, but it hasn't worked out for me with fit or warmth and I will be returning it when I can.
