I have always known down insulation was the warmest product out there. My "old" down coat kept me warm enough, but had the obnoxious habit of leaving feathers all over my clothes. I turned to my "go to" merchant (L.L.Bean) for over 36 years to provide a replacement and bought 2 of these coats. I bought the 3/4 in black and the longer length in brown. I like the fit and the styling but the first day I wore it in below 32 degree weather I was absolutely freezing. There is virtually NO insulation whatsoever in the arms, very little in the torso and I consistently had to wear a heavy fleece sweater underneath to keep warm. Even with that I felt the wind and cold and was hurrying to get inside ANY building. Our recent bout of 28 degree Boston weather clinched my decision to return both of these....which now leaves me in the midst of searching for a coat that will actually provide warmth. What happened? This coat is rated to minus 40 degrees....seriously?? No - I am not just a "cold" person. In point of fact I am the one in the house driving everyone nuts, complaining about the heat and turning the thermostat down. As stated above, I have depended on L.L. bean my entire adult life for rock solid performing merchandise and a quality product. It surprises me indeed to see the standards in this coat.
ProsDurable, Great Value, Comfortable, Performing as Expected, beautifully fit, fashionable
My daughter requested this coat for a Christmas present and was so thrilled to recieve it she wore it that day. The fit is true, the fabric is durable and fashionable, and the overall quality is unsurpassed by other brands we researched. As a teacher, she has both bus duty and playground duty and hates to be cold: This coat will keep her warm and dry and she looks great wearing it!
I purchased this coat thinking the quality would be similar to the Ultrawarm jackets I bought a couple of years ago. I could not believe the scant amount of down (especially in the sleeves) in this coat! I don't even have to wear it outside to know this won't be warm at all. The only reason I gave it 2 stars instead of 1, is because the periwinkle color is so pretty. The quality of quite a few LLBean products has really gone down hill. It's actually quite sad, considering they used to be top notch.
ProsDurable, Great Value, Comfortable, Performing as Expected
I wrote another review stating that the coat didn't wash up very well.....I am correcting that because I ended up drying it with two tennis balls instead of one and it fluffed up much better....
