Purple and hot pink down parka from The Company Store. Detachable hood. It’s about 30 years old and looks like new.

My warmest coat is a parka filled with goose down. Its warm and not overly heavy. My next warmest outerwear is a snowmobile suit. I don't have a snowmobile and use my suit the same as insulated coveralls. Encasing one's legs inside the same wrapper with the remainder of one's body has a very positive effect toward staying warm.

I have a full-length black mouton coat. (Before anyone flames me, the animal is not killed for mouton.) It is the warmest coat in the world (and very heavy), and I'm convinced it will last forever. I bought it in February 1969, and wore it exclusively for many years--it still looks like new.

LLBean...and as cold as this wind is, I may need it tomorrow!

Same as a couple people above: Land's End Squall jacket. Burgundy. No hood. 17 years old -- I know 'cause I bought it the year I started teaching at my current school, where the colors are -- you guessed it -- burgundy and gold.

Full length Lynx! When my oldest son married in January at Lake at Tahoe, his bride wanted all of the women (family and bridesmaids) to wear fur. Found my fabulous and totally impractical (for south Texas) coat on sale at a consignment store. Love it, board it every summer, and wear it when I can...even to take out the trash bin on those rare freezing mornings!

If it's in the single digits, I will wear the full length mink for warmth - also used to wear it when I would go to NYC in Jan and did a lot of walking. Wear the stroller length sheared mink more as it's very light weight - easy to travel with as it folds up to next to nothing.

most if the winter, I either wear my Puffa that I bought in a man's size do it would be longer, 33 years ago when in London, or my Barbour quilted jacket - perfect for the car unless it's really cold.

I'm an animal lover, but consider mink to be nasty tempered little rodents and no objection to wearing their pelts.

Guess wool/down jacket.

Don't own any winter jackets / coats. Not cold enough here. Do have a rain jacket.

I have a forest green North Face Denali Gortex jacket(exactly like this one). It has a fleece liner that zips in & a hood that rolls up into the collar. I wear a grey fleece balaclava w/ it.

Cold is not that much of a winter issue here but wet is!! And since I am outdoors much of the time, waterproof is more important than cold proof. My go-to is an Eddie Bauer Gortex hooded parka that keeps me both warm and dry :-) It's getting on a bit, tho..........seems like I've had it forever!!

I don't own a dress coat. But I do have a couple of dressier fleece jackets I wear if out at night in the winter.

In Southern CA, but at altitude, so we have "winter." Can't remember the brand (cut the tags/logo off a few years back), but it's a nice down jacket that I picked up at a thrift store a few years ago for $6.

Gotta be fur, there is nothing warmer. I wore mine to the vets one day with a bit of trepidation. She loved it! And yes, the animals used to make fur coats are mean creatures that would kill your pets in a heartbeat.

"the animals used to make fur coats are mean creatures that would kill your pets in a heartbeat."

Really?? Hard to find a mean, blood-thirsty rabbit or chinchilla. Or karakul lamb :-))

Then let other mean animals kill those mean animals.

$20 fake down coat from Wal-Mart, teal green.

I love my gold/bronze toned winter jacket I bought in the late 90's. I was too big to wear it in the late 2000's/early 2010's -- but I couldn't bear to part with it. Not because I adored the style as much as I adored its warm comfort when it fit... After I lost 40 pounds about 5 years ago... it fits again! I had a tailor/cleaner refurbish it and fix a rip. It's back as a winter fixture here. I originally got it at a Tall venue in Hartford CT (that no longer exists). The sleeves are definitely long enough for me.

(Looking, but can't find a name on it. I must have removed the tag years ago.)

Gardengal, I think that lamb may end up on my dinner plate. Maybe even the rabbit... That being said, I'm not really interested in wearing animal fur. But I'm not going to worry about other people who do, unless they choose to select endangered species.

Land's End hip-length coat that the company I used to work for gave employees as a gift. Besides wearing it in winter I wore it some when riding my motorcycle, it really blocked the wind.

My comment was only intended in response to the comment that the animals that traditionally become fur coats or accessories are all vicious creatures bent on tearing you or your pets limb from limb. They are not :-)

Killing animals for food is one thing......it's the natural order of things (vegan philosophy aside). But killing them just to wear their fur is something many have a hard time dealing with.

My winter coat is 3/4 length, a washable poly fiber of some sort. On super-cold days, or windy cold days, I'll layer it with a tshirt, flannel shirt, hoodie sweatshirt, then this coat.

If I was working and needing to keep warm while commuting, I'd buy another Lands End stadium coat. I gave mine to my daughter a couple years ago and it's still going strong.

Minks and foxes are quite mean. I've only seen rabbit on children's short jackets and not in decades.

I’ve got a lands end coat, with detachable hood and rated for below zero wear though I haven’t actually tested that rating. I bought it back in 2004, and expect many more years of wear from it - snow, rain, wind - it handles it all and waterproof to boot. :p

I inherited a full length black cashmere coat from my mother; it's probably from New York in the 1950's. There isn't much use for it in Southern California, but I had to go to NY last year for work, so I had it altered. The tailor was amazed by the fabric.

I also inherited a very warm favorite. Its a hip length alpaca one size fits all hoodie that I'd admired on dd when we visited her in NYC. When several buttons were off, she gifted it to me. Keeps me cozy in the cold, and when snow is blowing sideways.

Warmest is a shearling knee length coat I bought several years ago on a trip out west. It has a hood. I also have a very warm Eddie Bauer down storm coat with a detachable hood that is 3/4 length I bought for soccer games. So many games are played in the rain or moist conditions, I prefer to wear it for bad weather. But yes, a fur like mink or beaver is one of the warmest you can wear, with the lightest weight. I love mine.

We should also have one of these threads in the fall or early winter for warm, all weather boots.

My warmest that I actually wear are a mid thigh length goosedown/goretex Eddie Bauer that I bought used, don't know the style; and a 30 some year old corduroy lined with wool flannel that I wear for yard work and walks -- it is a bit less warm than the EB, but blocks wind well, has big pockets, machine washes well, is roomy enough for layering and less bulky than the EB. Unfortunately it has the big 1980s shoulders so I won't wear it for errands!

I have a calf length shearling that I bought at an estate sale then promptly gained weight so it is too snug. I should put it up for sale next fall.

I also have 2 minks that I inherited from my mother -- a gorgeous long white one, and a silver stole. She was so very proud of them! Her generation had no qualms about wearing "fur animals". I on the other hand would never buy a mink, sable, lynx etc. because I don't agree with killing animals for vanity. For food, I have no issue, and leather/shearling as a byproduct is fine by me.

I've never worn either of the furs, neither is practical for me, plus I don't want to deal with comments from anti fur strangers. But really, what am I expected to do with them? Send them to the landfill?

I have a thing for winter coats. Years ago a friend mentioned that she likes to switch up her winter coats because usually, you run into people in the winter while outside and why should you always be wearing the same coat?

New York weather keeps changing. I have a long down coat, two shorter versions, and a hip length metallic puffy jacket. I also have a wool peacoat and a fleece jacket that looks like a peacoat.

raee_gw, I totally agree with your view on killing animals for vanity. It's sad that so many people don't care. As for your inherited furs, if you want them to go to a good cause, there are wildlife rescues that collect fur coats for orphaned animals to snuggle with. Orphaned baby animals want to snuggle with your old fur coat

Personally I am completely against trapping or raising animals for the purpose of killing them for their fur.

With that said I saw an interesting documentary about a fur farm in Russia that raised foxes for fur that had the idea of keeping and breeding only the most docile and easier to handle and interact with foxes and killing the more aggressive animals for their fur. It seems like a great idea so that the ones that the workers deal with aren't trying to kill or maim the workers at every turn. However in relatively few generations of keeping and breeding the most docile foxes their offspring started exhibiting wildly different physical characteristics such as floppy ears, shorter snouts and patches of white coloration, making them unsuitable for the fur trade.

It showed that me that much of the early differentiation in dogs was likely brought about merely by early man keeping and breeding the friendlier wolves that didn't try to eat them, rather than any purposeful selection for physical characteristics.

Well wouldn’t you prefer to have a dog hanging around if the dog involved DIDN'T keep trying to rip your face off and wasn’t routinely sneaking in to drag another one of your children away for the purpose of eating them with a pack of their dog pals? ;)

At that point they could have rat like tails and curly ears, provided they didn’t have an interest in eating people.

kadefol, thanks for the suggestion and link. But I have to say that the "wildlife rescue and rehab" that is nurturing the "wild boars" need to do a wee bit more research about them! I hope they are planning to send the to a farm instead of releasing back into the wild!

ps I apologize for going off topic

My winter coat is about 15 years old. The label is Platinum. I got it at Syms, a store that no longer exists. DH is allergic to down/feathers. This coat is waterproof canvas on the outside and fake fur on the inside. It is really warm. Problem is that I have shrunk, so now I have to cut four inches off and hem it up. (The coat is full length.) Getting old is a pain.

For running errands etc I have a Lands End Squall Jacket. For any time I'll be outside for an extended period, my Carhartt Arctic Jacket.

An LL Bean insulated Goose Down jacket bought in the late 1970s. Still in great shape. It's got to be really cold for me to wear it.

When temp drops below 15 F, I have a couple full length coyote & mink coats to keep warm. Being in a colder zone with 6 months of winter, you'd see a lot of people in fur coats at the grocery stores. This winter there are a lot of college kids in Canadian goose parkas. Those are $1,000 coats.

Mink coats are very light and warm, I think it’s the best fur coat. I wear a short or 3/4 length one after Thanksgiving. I like the full length ones too, but only wear one when the streets are dry not slushy with wet snow and salt.

Amazing Aunt Audrey, your mink looks lovely!

My warmest coat is a parka sold by the Burlington Coat Factory. It is trademarked "3 goose" and is filled with goose down. You could survive a winter night by wearing it and laying down in a snowbank.

Mouton fur, shearling lamb fur coats are very warm too, just a little heavier. A full length one is good for weight loss. :-) I have a full length Russian Mouton, I probably could lose 1 lb if I wear it on a 5 mile hike. Be careful with pretty Mongolian lamb fur coat, don’t shake it hard if you just walked through a snow storm, pelt can be ripped open. I love fluffy Mongolian lamb fur coat, the fur flows with your movements.

Raee_gw, send em this way, I'll wear them. I cant stand the cold.

"Fun2BHere says:

I don't own a coat or a sweater. I'm never cold."

So, you've never been to Wisconsin in winter.

If you want a serious coat for extreme cold, you need to buy a refrigiwear coat for extreme cold to -50F! My friend worked on oil drilling in Siberia and has this coat and the matching pants. I think they make a hood to attach too, I'm pretty sure his has the hood.

Refrigiwear Coat

Me out shoveling in below zero weather...

I'm wearing a light almost "spring" jacket that's poly filled. My daughter bought it for me from The Bay years ago. It's one from their official Olympics line. I would love to own a Canada Goose coat, but the price is too much for me to go and get one. Besides, with our crazy weather, it can be -30 in the morning when you would need a Canada Goose coat, but by mid afternoon it can go over 0 and you look ridiculous in such a warm coat.

arkansas girl, thank you! I have been shopping for a dog walking jacket. I just ordered the women's extreme sweater jacket from Refrigiwear.

Annie Deighnaugh, that is about how I look when I go for my walks at 18F and below!

I'm allergic to down so I go with the down alternatives. A hood to pull up makes a difference. I like my current Columbia omni-heat coat, it goes to just above the knees so it covers a lot. Also, a scarf and warm gloves, a wool hat, wool socks and boots, along with thermal underwear and I'm all set to walk from my house to my car lol.

I'm hoping it's my mom's old down filled coat 'cause it's gonna get down to or near freezing here in AZ this weekend and I'm gonna need it to take the dog out... my sister had it and gave to me a few yrs back. haven't worn it yet, but I have it handy in case I need it.

I look just like Annie in my warmest coat - an L L Bean full length 'ultra warm' down coat.

Last year I bought an Eddie Bauer 'Women's on the Go' trench coat with a removable insulated liner that is waterproof and windproof. It's just as warm as the down coat but is only mid-thigh length.

Ice age is coming with 12-18” of snow this weekend. The low temp will be -2 F! For the ones in the storm zone, it’s time to test out your warm coats! Stay warm and be safe!