6 tips for choosing a versatile jacket

It’s Monday morning. You have an important business meeting, you jump in the shower and while the water is running, you think about what you can wear. You choose your outfit. You quickly wolf down breakfast to brush your teeth and put your charger in your backpack. Through the window, you see that it is cloudy. You open the closet and you wonder: what jacket to wear? The denim one is very casual; the overly elegant velvet one. You don’t have much time but you don’t have options either.

Several people may have been in a similar situation. Precisely in autumn, when the weather is more ambivalent, it is when it is more difficult to quickly choose our outfits, especially jackets or coats. This small problem can translate into indecision that will take precious minutes before you leave your house, which in turn can mean a delay at your destination, especially in cities as congested as Santiago.

Therefore, having a versatile jacket is key to any wardrobe. A joker garment, with which you always feel safe and confident, and which also helps you out of trouble. The problem is that it is easier to think of an ideal model than to find it.

How to choose such a jacket? For this big question, two fashion specialists gave us their vision and shared the keys to choosing this precious garment during the fall season.

A good jacket is a garment “which involves a significant investment”, says Andrea Ávila, director of the costume design course at Duoc UC Viña del Mar. “According to our buying behavior, this is the least we have acquired in the year. That’s why you have to think about it very carefully so as not to end up with an expensive product that is obsolete,” he adds.

“For me, clothes are our armor,” says Feli Cavieres, designer and fashion content creator . “In this sense, the jackets are a very important part, because they are the last layer and therefore the most visible.” Having a jacket that welcomes you and warms you, but above all that makes you feel confident and safe in different looks, is essential to get through these cold months.

For Ávila, the first thing to consider when looking for a jacket is that it can be combined with the rest of the clothes that we already have in our closet. “More than the trend of the moment, be clear about our personal style, since we have to feel comfortable with this jacket that we are going to add to our wardrobe”, he specifies.

That’s why he always suggests “choosing neutral colors and classic shapes, which are the ones that best adapt to different instances and that survive better over time”.

“In terms of materiality, there are endless possibilities,” explains the academic. To know which way to look, you have to be clear about the function that this product will fulfill and what technical qualities it must have: if you want it to be waterproof or with greater thermal capacity”.

“Today the market offers 3-in-1 jackets which, as the name suggests, contain several functions in a single garment”, explains Ávila. “They include a waterproof layer and a thermal layer, and together they make a great jacket for extreme climates.” While these super jackets are much appreciated – and much needed – in the south or in very cold and rainy regions, in more temperate parts of the country they are not popular. Finally, this point translates into the taste and functionality you are looking for in the jacket.

Wool will always be a material that will provide warmth and comfort, even if it will not help much on rainy days. For moisture resistance, on the other hand, nylon and polyester are better.

“You should be aware that at some point – hopefully after many years and use – clothes will become waste, so we should buy with awareness of this and only do so if strictly necessary”, says Avila. “There are many ways to acquire new clothes for our wardrobe without harming the environment too much.”

“There are different brands that work in a sustainable way, either by recycling or reusing fabrics, or by using cotton or materials obtained in a sustainable or more user-friendly way. You can also always opt for second-hand clothes,” he adds.

This is an important point but which few people pay attention to when shopping online. Ávila says it’s relevant “to take this into account, as it will greatly influence your comfort.” The idea is that the jacket protects us but also allows us to move easily; otherwise, the discomfort will make this garment impractical and therefore it will be forgotten at the back of the closet.

It’s hard to think of a good jacket that doesn’t have pockets. These maximize our experience, since in addition to allowing us to store our belongings, they serve to protect our hands from the cold. That’s why it’s important to make sure it has a few good pockets at hip height and a few extra pockets, either inside the coat or on the chest.

“There are many types of trench coats and made of several different materials,” says Feli Faxion Cavieres about these long jackets, also called trench coats, very popular in the middle of the 20th century. According to him, “people are afraid of this garment”, perhaps because in the collective unconscious it is still very much linked to detective films or Inspector Gadget. In Europe and the United States, on the other hand, it has again become a trend.

“It’s a very versatile piece of clothing because you can wear it on formal occasions and it looks great, but you can also combine it with a jumpsuit and sneakers for a more urban look,” she suggests. Trench coats are warm and waterproof, ideal for braving the wind and enduring a short walk in the rain.

Despite this, Feli says that at first she was “afraid” to wear trench coats. But it was during a trip to Japan that he had the opportunity to see this garment in action, very popular in the streets of Tokyo, where the cold is similar to that of Santiago. “There, everyone used this combined garment in different ways and on different occasions,” he recalls. “Japanese women, who are on average short, they wore it with a monochrome look and they looked amazing. On the other hand, the men used it with a diver, slippers and a jockey. “Trust me, they looked great,” he says.

“When I arrived in Chile, I was inspired by a trench coat that I had bought a long time ago in thrift, but that I did not wear because I did not know how to combine it, because I thought that it was only for elegant occasions,” he says. “When I put it on, wearing it over the same clothes I always wore, it complemented a much newer and higher look. “

“There are many different types of trenches and many different materials,” Feli analyzes. As a first suggestion, you should “consider the occasion and the season for which you want to use it. For a summer afternoon, one can find a thin trench coat, which serves as a last layer if the temperature drops” , while “there are others that are thick for winter and you can even find raincoats”.

“Typical trench coats are beige or black, which we can have as a base that combines with many types of clothing and for different occasions,” says Feli. “If we mix them with similar colors, we can have a sober monochromatic look, but we can also sublimate them by complementing other textures, such as denim for example.” In this way, “we can escape this more classic look associated with the trench coat”.

Regarding its shape, Feli offers for these times “a jacket oversized, big enough, and if you have raglan sleeve even better, since this way we ensure a good fit”.

“If you have an old trench coat, it may require more care when washing, as in the past starched material and interlinings were used to hold the shape of the garment, which gets damaged in a washing machine,” explains- he. However, most trench coats today are no longer made that way, so “it doesn’t require much care”.

“Most trench coats are made of cotton and are very durable”, he explains, for which he recommends “steam ironing them or the other way around, through the lining of the garment, because the trench tends to shine if ironed”. directly”.

This is another classic garment that would hardly stay in your wardrobe. It is a jacket that brings a lot of sobriety, able to generate balance in your outfit, something ideal both for office days and to complement with jeans in a night event.

Lauren Bacal Yes Catherine Hepburn they made it their recurring item of clothing in the 1940s, and popularized it for its versatility: you can wear it day or night, in casual or formal situations, and being classic and timeless, it can take you out of various traffic jams for many years. It will only depend on outfits selected or the idea you want to convey.

Like the trench coat, it’s a piece that works for all seasons. an adjustment huge It will allow you to combine it with vests without feeling tight, while in warmer seasons its wide waist will allow the temperature to circulate comfortably.

*Product prices are updated as of May 9, 2022. Values ​​and availability may change