As early as December (yep) I at last ventured to start my winter coat search. This one being my fifth winter spent in Des Moines, Iowa, which means it’s finally time to nail it. For my first cold season, I had no idea how cold a blizzards-blast this state and the city could actually be.  So being low on the cash at the moment, I ended up just wearing everything I owned at once. Unfortunately, that list included piling 3 lighter coats on top of one another. My second winter was much less of a winter (my fellow New Yorkers, people in the city I’ve moved from and who came to visit me, remember the lovely, mild thing that was winter 2011-2012, right? The third time was not a charm, as the weather has gotten so cold that I gave up entirely and bought one of those delightfully warm head to ankle Uniqlo numbers. These ones, which turn you into looking like you’re rolled up in a sleeping bag with the face and feet cut out of it. To be true, it was effective, but it was ugly as all get out. And the perfect winter coat should keep you warm AND look good. Because I have to believe that we live in a world where we CAN have it all. I have to.

“Third time was not a charm, as the weather has gotten so cold that I gave up entirely and bought one of those delightfully warm head to ankle Uniqlo numbers” Janine Desmines

Tip #1 Look for a durable quality

Take every label on it into account. While being made out of cheap acrylics, even if it’s from a designer with high price points – simply teach yourself to say no.Also quite often, coats that are advertised as “wool” are only some tiny percent wool, and in reality turn out to be consisting of more than 80% nylon and spandex. Keep in mind, that no polyester will keep you warm in a snow storm, and it also gives your sweat a really funky feet smell. Make sure you’re buying a thing made to last, especially if you’re getting to spend a sum.

Tip #2: Brace yourself to be disappointed

Locating the perfect winter coat in this big world of retailing is in some ways akin to losing your virginity. The first try to make that happen can turn to be that “it” might not fit, and it will hurt. All because you really wanted this to be the one, but you just have to keep trying until you get it right. The very same goes about choosing a right anything, this time – a winter coat.

Tip #3: Stay patient

Patience is the most underestimated virtue of them all (of course, disqualifying honesty, decency, and ethics from the list of options). So, be it in need to be used while waiting for a bus or whilst trawling through the avalanche of coats retailers are throwing at you like winter Gatsby’s. If you’re really determined to find the perfect coat you need to see ALL the coats, which is going to take time and resolve. So at the end of the day, a person who is a frazzled or bored coat hunter is never going to come up with the good stuff.