For a girl from Hawaii, finding a coat can be a feat. I’ve been through a few of winters ⎯ a couple of English ones, and more recently, one in New England ⎯ so I keep thinking I’ll get better at it without trying. Wrong! I decided to start asking the fashionistas I know about how they decide on a coat, and it seems that they all go through the coat dilemma each year, as well.

I decided to start out by making a list of things that are important to me in a coat, based on problems that I’ve had with past coats. The first and foremost thing was that it fit properly. My very first coat was a beautiful camel colored cashmere coat. It’s heavy, gorgeous, and warm. But it’s also about four sizes too big for me, so I look a little bit like I’m playing dress up in my grandpa’s closet. Last year, I bought a really cute black and white coat from the Gap. It was a freezing October day, and I had to buy something, quickly, so I got this one, even though I should have gotten a petite. One day, on the train, I saw a girl wearing the same coat but for some reason it looked so much better on her…and then I realized why: it fit! What came to my calves hit just above her knees, and she looked amazing. Fit. Is. Everything.

Well, almost everything. The color consideration is especially important when you have a loveable but very furry little one running around your apartment (and, consequently, rubbing up against your coat). I, for one, am tired of the mandatory lint roll each time I walk out the door. So, even though I found this adorable Kenneth Cole coat on Bluefly, I just couldn’t bring myself to buy it.

I then found this fabulous Angora-enriched three-quarter length coat on La Redoute, which I wanted to buy in grey (the same color as my cat, Imogen).

It’s actually the perfect color, and since it comes in a short length, it wouldn’t make me look like the incredible shrinking woman either. It was deep like, and it looked good on paper. I almost bought it.

In fact, I was in the shopping cart feature until I got lured out of my apartment to go shopping with my girlfriends. And then, I found it: THE coat. It was love at first sight, and I had to have it ⎯ the TwillTwentyTwo Chelsea Coat. Yum. Perfect fit, perfect color combo, and plenty of personality. Now, if only it would get a little bit colder.