You Can Look Stylish in Down Clothes

Down vest with hood styled with Sienna Studio skirt, GNW tight, Great Northwest denim shirt and riding boots (all own) for a winter work outfit in cold climate regions

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How to look stylish in down clothes is a challenge for everyone. However, when it is bitter cold, you really have to bundle up in down filled garments for thermal comfort. Unfortunately, all down clothing adds weight which no fashionista needs. Furthermore, they can be heavy. Therefore, everyone dislikes wearing down clothes. However, we can’t risk to freeze to hypothermia when the polar vortex pumps cold Arctic or Siberian air into your region, here are my secrets to still look stylish. Read how to avoid looking like the Michelin Man and look stylish in down clothes.

Contents

Look for Tailored Down Clothes
Hoodie Down Vest: Wear the Hood over Your Coat
My Secrets to Look Stylish in Down Clothes
Example of a -40F-Rated Down Coat

Look for Tailored Down Clothes

No matter whether you wear a down vest, anorak or coat, they add weight. However, there are styles that still look stylish and tricks that offset the illusion to a certain degree with their cut.

Go for a tailored style nipped-in at the waist down-coats and short vests. Princess seams introduce vertical lines that have a slimming effect as well. Find a cut with vertical zipper pockets. Ensure the lower hem hits your body at a favorable place, i.e., not at your widest place.

Because horizontal stripes add weight buy the version with small vertical compartment.

When you love hoods, recall that wearing hooded puffer vests with outerwear can be a challenge.

fashion over 50 looking stylish in a down vest

mature fashion How to look stylish in down clothes

Fashion over 40 How to look stylish in down clothes — Wearing a down vest over a Landsend sweater with a Sienna Studio pencil leather skirt, and statement belt. Keeping the outfit in monochromatic black and the high heels of the Harley Davidson booties serve to avoid that the vest wears me. The zigzag and Princess seam keep the eye moving.

Secrets to Look Stylish in Down Clothes

While, of course, vertical down compartments have a slimming vibe, they have the disadvantage that due to gravity the downs accumulate in the lower part of the compartment. Consequently, insulation becomes uneven, but worse, the coat will look lumpy. Go for close to horizontal compartments instead.
There exist down clothes that have an outer fabric to hide the down compartments. While this look overcomes the disadvantage of horizontal lines, it is not obvious that you wear a down coat. You probably prefer people to know that you wear down clothes. It must get below -40F (-40^oC) before I wear the down anorak shown in the photos below.
Wear high sturdy heels or at least shoes that add some height. Looking taller offsets a bit that the downs make you look wider than you are.
If you wear a knee length down coat, adding a long scarf creates vertical lines as it divides the “wide” appearing coat into small left and right parts and the scarf in the middle. This trick has some slimming effect as it draws the eye up and down instead of along the horizontal compartments of the coat.
Go for a monochromatic look which has a slimming effect and looks classy.
Choose dark colors for two reasons. First, dark colors have a slimming effect, which helps to offset the weight the down clothes. Second, you will not look like you wrapped your grandmother’s feather bedding around your body. Recall red, pink, and pastels add at lest 5 pounds.
Try to find a piece with an interesting print like a floral down coat for your climate region.
Accentuate your waist with a belt or look for a down piece that has features like a drawstring to give at least the idea of a waist.
Recall the styling trick to pair bulky with something slim and lean. Thus, straight pants or jeans, skinnies, over-the-knee boots are good options to not be mistaken for the Michelin man.
Don’t buy a down coat that is tight to offset the weight that a down coat adds. The reasons for buying a coat with at least an inch (2.54 cm) ease are not to look like a sausage on the grill shortly before bursting, and squeezing out every air between you and the down item also squeezes out the air between the downs. Consequently, you loose the insulating effect of little air pockets, and your body heat would be conducted within short time to the outside and counteract to why you wear a down piece in the first place. Furthermore, this squeezing will break the downs and leads to premature aging of the down item. As a result, you would have to buy a new down piece earlier than necessary. And who likes spending money on down pieces to begin with? They are an inevitable necessity in cold climate regions, but nobody’s wardrobe favorite.
Identify the down coat that is right for your climate zone.

Example of a -40F-rated Down Coat

traditional style down coat with wolf fur trim front and back view — Front and back view of the down coat that insulated me from the cold air when watching the Iditarod start. It features an additional cover layer, closure at the coats hem, and the sleeves have a closure as well as knit endings to avoid that body warmth get lost to the ambient air.

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