The Coat Decides Everything

There is a particular kind of disappointment in assembling a considered outfit and then covering it with a coat that was chosen in a hurry. For most of the year the coat is the outfit. Everything beneath it is a rumour.

Length is the first decision and the one people get wrong. A coat that stops mid-thigh cuts the body at its widest point; one that finishes below the knee or grazes the ankle reads as deliberate. If you are between the two, go longer.

Colour should be the second decision, and it should be boring. Chocolate, camel, ink, bone. A loud coat is a coat you will be photographed in twice and then quietly retire. A quiet coat in extraordinary cloth is one you will wear for a decade.

Test the shoulder with a knit underneath, never a T-shirt in a warm shop. The seam should sit at the edge of your shoulder or an inch beyond it — never short of it. A coat that pinches at the shoulder cannot be tailored out.

Finally, ask what it does when it moves. Walk in it. A great coat has a swing to it; a mediocre one just hangs. That single second of movement is the difference between looking dressed and looking impeccable.