Wool coat for a short guy?
Hi everybody! I'm looking for a lined wool coat/jacket I will be able to layer over a sweater and a shirt that will help me make it through the NYC winter. I'd love to spend $500 or less, if possible.
Here's the catch: I'm 5'2" with fairly broad shoulders. My height makes it so that most coats make me look like I'm wearing my dad's as a loaner. (He's actually shorter than me, but you know what I mean.) I'd like some winter-wear I don't need to swim in.
Here are my measurements (or just about):
Chest: 36 inches
Shoulder to shoulder: ~17 inches
Pit to pit: ~19 inches
Center back to hem (jacket): ~24 inches
Bottom of collar seam to hem (collared shirt): 27.5 inches
Sleeve length from center back (jacket): ~33.125 inches
Sleeve length from shoulder: ~24 inches
For some additional context, I tried on the attached jacket from Toast recently and loved it, but the sleeves were too long and the shoulders felt too tight to layer a sweater underneath. In my experience, jacket-length garments tend to work better for me, but I'm open to longer coats if I can find somewhere to try them on.
Thanks in advance for your help!
5 Replies
I think most people here will say that your height isn't as big of a factor as you think. Sleeve length can usually be tailored.
Do you have any pictures of how you'd want it to look on you, like inspiration-wise? Also if you have pictures of things you've tried on yourself that might help too.
I’ve never been one to collect inspo (biting me in the butt now but oh well). Here are some pics of me in a jacket i currently own that I think make sense for reference WRT jacket-length garments. As for coats longer than that, I really don’t have a strong reference point.
I also have this parka from Alpha Industries that I wore for many years even though I wasn’t 100% pleased with the fit. I felt it had that "swimming" effect. Maybe this is helpful?
Doesn't look like you're swimming in it, honestly. Bit hard to tell with the pics, but I think it could just be that you're not used to the looser/boxier fit? Sometimes that can give you the feeling of "wearing your dad's jacket" when no one else is picking up on that.
Obviously you want to be comfortable and feel confident in what you're wearing but in my experience sometimes it's something no one but you is picking up on.
I think you're right, to be honest. I liked that coat enough to wear it for seven years, after all lol. I think the issues were that I wasn't used to the raglan shoulder, the sleeves were always a little long, and that it didn't look as good closed (but what coat does?).
Anyway, I think the length on either of those two pieces would make sense for a new one. And for the record, I probably wouldn't be replacing the parka except that it tore on the side not pictured in a way that a tailor I brought it to said could not be fixed. (Also, thank you so much for your help!)