This is a great everyday coat. It's warm and the hood design keeps the wind out, better than any other coat I have. I spend a lot of time outdoors so I need a coat that protects me from the cold and howling winds. This coat does the job while looking good. I bought the purple slate color and love it, looks great with jeans. I'm 5' 5", 125 lbs and the small fits perfect with room to layer except around the neck. The hood is a tight fit so if you want to wear a scarf with the hood on snug, the scarf has to go on the outside. The only annoyance is with the velcro when I wear a knit scarf . It tends to get stuck on the velcro. This is my first parka purchase from LLBean and extremely satisfied.
I had a coat similar to this and had the zipper break. I searched high and low to find an almost exact replica based on features. I wanted a down filled coat with a fur hood that also had a collar on the hood to cover part of your face and hold the hood up. The few I found had bad reviews. I finally looked at LL Bean. I did not find all the info I was wanting on this coat but decided to give it a try. I will now give you all the info I didn't know before. This coat is not bulky but does keep you warm. The fur on the hood is not bushy (I preferred mine thicker) but it does zip off the hood and you can still have the hood on. There is a collar on the hood that velcros across your lower face. There are also drawstrings on the hood to make the opening smaller. The cuffs are fleece with NO thumb hole. The pockets are fleece lined. Not too big. Big enough for your hands or a small pair of gloves. They zip shut which is nice. There is an inside cell phone pocket if you use to carry a non flip, non smart phone from the early 2000's. Today's smart phone size will not fit. This has a flap that velcros. There is another inside pocket that zips shuts. You could probably fit your smart phone in this pocket. Both pockets are at about chest height. All of the zippers are plastic!!! For the quality and price of this coat, I thought the picture showed a metal zipper. It would be great if it was. Luckily LL Bean's return policy is infinite so if it breaks, return the coat. Just keep your receipt. The zipper does unzip from the bottom so you can allow yourself some room when getting in and sitting in the car. I am 5'-3" and 155 pounds and ordered the regular Large in black. It falls just a hair below my kneecap. Perfect for me to keep my legs warm. There is room to layer or wear a thicker top. The choice of colors wasn't the greatest. I wanted gray but they don't make this coat in gray. The fur is a whitish yellow. A lot of down coats say to dry clean only. The tag on this says you can hand wash the fur once taken off the hood. The rest of the coat is delicate cycle in cold and dry on low. I hope this info is helpful to you. I will hopefully have this coat for many years.
the past three days of wind and blizzard, proved how well designed and warm this coat is. People that said the hood and fur was too big. WELL: I closed the velcro around my neck and the hood with the fur kept my face warm and dry, from blowing snow. ( shoveling in a blizzard.) The snow water beaded up and I stayed dry. plus, I could move easily thru heavy snow and shovel without the coat getting in the way. Under the coat ( 10 degree wind chill) I worn a thin long sleeve cotton shirt and a light weight fleece shirt. I was VERY warm. the coat actually surprise me as to how well protected from the elements I was !!
I am glad that I purchased this coat as it does keep me warm while walking in the morning with wind chills in the teens. It has not been colder than that here in Connecticut, but not sure I would want to be walking in single digit temperatures anyway. The color that I got is Purple Slate and it is so pretty. The material is so nice and soft and the coat is very comfortable. Only one minor issue is that one of the buttons for the hood came off as I saw the thread hanging (within one week of purchase). Good thing that a spare button came with the coat and I was able to sew it on.
