When curating your winter wardrobe, it’s common to prioritize robust outerwear, with big coats taking center stage. However, beyond the realm of heavy-duty parkas, slimmer and cropped jacket styles demand attention. Building a diverse collection of winter jackets is as crucial as investing in substantial cold-weather coats. These lighter, low-profile styles offer unparalleled versatility and frequent use throughout the season.
A well-chosen winter jacket serves as a strategic layer underneath heavier outerwear or stands independently as a fashion-forward piece. As temperatures drop, these key jacket variations become essential, ensuring both style and warmth. In this post, we’ll explore the top seven types of jackets every man should have in his winter arsenal, guaranteeing a season of sartorial success.
1. Bomber (or Flight) Jacket
Bomber jackets were first designed during WWI for military pilots to keep them warm at altitude, which was a serious problem given the open cockpits of the time. It was often made of leather and/or shearling, with high collars, tight cuffs, and hems. Among its current variants are the flying jacket (its original name) and the varsity jacket.
2. Lightweight Down Jacket
When it comes to covering up for winter, a guy only needs one feathery companion. The advantages of lightweight down jackets have long been recognized by those who strain their garments to the maximum limit. But you don’t have to be an experienced alpinist to enjoy one of these insulating miracles. Packable, ultra-light, and infinitely flexible, this is the kind of jacket that will keep you warm whether you’re climbing the Matterhorn or merely surviving the morning commute.
3. Waxed Canvas Jacket
Waxed canvas jackets are water-repellent, making them ideal for inclement weather (such as snow, sleet, or sludge, or whatever you name what just dropped from the sky). Options with flannel liningFlint & Tinder’s signature design provides the warmth found in woolen or insulated coats.
4. Technical Rain Jacket
There are few areas on Earth where unexpected rains will not be a concern at least a few times throughout the winter months. Nobody enjoys getting wet, so it’s a good idea to have a weatherproof jacket on hand. A technical rain jacket combines novel materials and ingenious production processes to keep you dry as efficiently as possible. An essential must-have in every man’s winter outerwear arsenal.
5. Puffer Jacket
Eddie Bauer created the first puffer, the Skyliner, after almost freezing to death on a fishing expedition in 1936. His quilted garments insulated the user, trapping heat and keeping them warm (and, in Eddie’s case, alive). Norma Kamali (with her Sleeping Bag Coat) and premium company Moncler (with its multicolored Alpine jackets) introduced the trend into the fashion world a few decades later.
Nowadays, the style is everywhere: disguised in Drake and Nike collaboration collections, worn as a uniform by British rappers, and trusted by every college-aged adult in America who lives on a campus where even the cold can’t stop the party.
6. Leather
Leather jackets are often thought of as transitional clothing, but with a few seasonal adjustments, they may perform well in winter as well.
For optimal warmth, forget your bikers and cafe racers and go to aviation-inspired designs. Shearling-lined bombers and aviators are incredibly warm, robust, and resistant to trends, making them ideal for anybody searching for a real winter outerwear buy-it-forever investment.
7. Parka
The parka is a hooded coat produced by the Caribou Inuits to survive northern temperatures. It was initially constructed from caribou or seal hide. Today’s parkas are more often seen with some form of insulated filling and forego the traditional animal skins in favor of different types of woven textiles. Anoraks, although hooded, are somewhat different and may be identified by their pullover design. However, the terms are occasionally used interchangeably.
