Suzanne Carillo

My girlfriend and I went out shopping a couple of days ago and both of us scored a new coat. Hazel's teal wool pea coat was marked down to only $31 from Forever 21 and I got my 1950's style faux fur car coat given as an early Christmas gift bought at Anthropologie, on sale for $70 marked down from $250.

I was surprised to see so many pre Christmas sales out there. If you can stand shopping in the crowds there are some deals to be found, you just need the patience to look for them. Below I've listed some of my pointers in finding the right coat for your body type.

I think it's important when looking for a winter coat to pick something that suites your body and doesn't add bulk. There are lots of ways to achieve this with a wide variety of coat shapes available to choose from. The main thing to think about is fit. The more fitted the coat is on you, the better you will look in it. If you are tall and thin of course you can practically wear a tent and still look good but for those of us with some lumps and bumps you don't need to be adding to them.

Lots of coats come with belts so you are able to define your waist which will help give you some shape instantly. When buying a long coat make sure it has a belt or is very fitted at the waist, otherwise you will just look like a long rectangle…or if you're short, a square.

Any coat that "nips in" at the waist and then flares out at the hips will create an hour glass shape. Even if you have larger hips or butt this style creates the illusion of a smaller waist and will hide your other flaws.

If you are short stay away from long coats. The shorter your coat…the longer your legs will look. If you wear a coat that goes down to your ankles your legs end up looking like they are only a few inches long.

A line coats are tricky but can be fun. This is the style of my coat in the photo. With an A line coat (that is a coat that literally looks like an "A" it goes narrower at the top and then flares out at the bottom) it is important to keep the bottom silhouette very narrow. That could mean skinny jeans, jeggings, a pencil skirt or anything that really hugs the body. If you skirt is short enough and you only your legs show that is even better. Since you have lots of width on the top half it's important to keep the lower half as narrow as possible.

A newer tighter body hugging down has just been introduced this year that you can layer underneath more fashionable coats and still keep warm. It's cool too since it will pack up into a tiny pocket, perfect for travelling. Robert got one of these and loves it.

Please follow and like us: