Winter coats to buy now – and wear ’til summer… How to dress like a grown up with SHANE WATSON

• A winter coat should be uplifting, mood-brightening and entrance-making
• READ MORE:  My fashion formula for the perfect winter coat

You’ve probably had the thing that’s going around. Is it a super-cold? Is it flu? Is it a post-Covid hybrid that’s a bit worse than both, but with less congestion?

Either way, this is the time of year when you message your girlfriend ‘Now I’ve Got It’ and she messages you back ‘Oh no! Get First Defence, and vitamin C (up to 3,000mg)’.

And this year you might also get sent a picture of your friend, in front of the mirror in her brand new coat, with the message: ‘Then when you’re better buy this. It will cheer you up every day (M&S!)’

That’s where we are with coats at the end of 2023. They’ve broken free from the outerwear section and now they’re the single cheeriest, most talked-about item in our wardrobes.

For a long time, all we wanted in a coat was a high-tech answer to keeping us warm and dry, but now we’re interested in all the other benefits we forfeited in the navy puffa years — the uplifting, mood-brightening, entrance-making, ‘Wow! Now that’s what I call feeling ready to go out’ qualities you find in a good coat.

Marks and Spencer’s brilliant poppy red, textured, single-breasted coat costs £79

The Princess of Wales looks stylish in a red coat worn over a tartan skirt and paired with black boots  

And as of December we’re not only in the mood, we have the added incentive of properly cold weather and Christmas in a couple of weeks.

A coat isn’t just for Christmas, but now does feel like the perfect moment to buy a great, warm, special winter warmer, if you haven’t already.

My friend’s cheery coat and the one that will brighten up your — and everyone’s — festive season is a brilliant poppy red, textured, single-breasted item (£79, marksandspencer.com).

I’m not sold on red as a party colour, but a fuzzy boucle red coat with a good chunky revere collar and proper buttons (poppers don’t cut it) will look great over any block colour or a print with a hint of red — the Princess of Wales has got this look down to a tee. 

It is a perfect way to add a dash of festive pizzazz that — come spring — will look smart with camels or shades of blue. Red is clever like that.

If you want to go cosier, the faux shearling, shorter (mid-thigh) version of this coat in off-white is a steal (£69).

Again this has Christmas currency — you can easily imagine Cameron Diaz in The Holiday wearing it with all the other textured off-whites in her wardrobe — but it’s also got into-next-year potential and looks chic with black trousers and a black-and-white striped sweater, which is how they’re styling it on the website.

Sticking with M&S, but moving up the price scale, Jaeger has a quilted reversible coat (£250) — scarlet on one side, navy on the other — that does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s fully reversible (‘for two bold looks’) and the quilting is in a subtle J stitch which makes it look expensive.

Pussycat Doll and TV presenter Ashley Roberts pairs her red coat with green silk trousers and a matching shirt 

Shane Watson advises to go for bright or white when it comes to a winter coat 

But what really makes this coat is the detachable double-sided scarf. I’m not generally partial to quilting, and wouldn’t look twice if this were plain navy, but with the giant twisted bolt of red at the neck, it’s striking and elegant.

Another brilliant bright coat, also at the pricier end of the scale, is Hush’s Scout wool coat (£299, hush-uk.com). This has lots going for it: warmth, a great cut (longish and double breasted) and clever colour. 

CHEERY COATS: THE RULES

• Go for bright or white.

• Opt for longer than knee-length.

• Get an ecru faux fur.

• Colour-block, starting with your coat.

I say clever because Mediterranean blue isn’t the first shade you reach for in winter, but it really suits the season and, like a bright blue sky on a snowy day, looks terrific with off-whites or gorgeous colour-blocked with shades of blue or clashed with a colour like red.

Faux fur coats are still filtering into the stores and one that’s caught my eye is Zara’s shaggy ecru coat (£89.99, zara.com). Faux fur has reverted to the classic Blackglama look (Blackglama being the name given to fine dark mink).

But this one stands out because it’s the perfect icy polar colour, with just a hint of Anita Pallenberg in her glamorous rock chick era.

Last but not least, the all- rounder coat that never goes out of style, keeps you warm and works in all the months of the year with an R is a classic leather-outer shearling.

There are some good faux options on the High Street, and once again, Marks & Spencer comes out on top (£99). The shearling lining looks authentic, the buttons are quality faux bone and the longer line (it inishes around the knee rather than mid thigh) works better in winter. Enjoy.

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