Pea coats still hold all the functionality that made them so prized by the marines of old. The shorter cut provides for comfort of movement. The double-breasted appearance really encloses you up in warmth. At the same time, the broad lapels and big collar help keep out the freezing winter air.

Plus, it’s helpful to be capable of flipping up the collar and lapels and clasp them around your neck for even more cold-weather shield. The dense wool of a quality pea coat enables it to last for decades, and the material remains clutch in distress.

How to Pick a Pea Coat

A quality pea coat can serve for a long time, so examine investing in one that seems as good as it’s made:

Select 100% wool — or up to a 20% artificial/wool combination.

Initially, pea coats were created with 100% wool. A fabric with many naturally amazing qualities: endurance, warmth, flame/water/stain/odor protection, breathability. And an insulating capacity that keeps working even when moist. These days, brand-new 100% wool pea coats are difficult to find. But that’s not indeed a big failure.

While it’s often thought that adding a synthetic feel to wool creates a second-rate fabric., Textures like nylon can improve a coat’s depth and strength. Without significantly discrediting wool’s unique properties. A 100% pure wool coat and one with an 80% wool/20% nylon combination are pretty alike. And the latter will be more affordable. Once the material is more than about 20% artificial fiber, however, the unique properties and feel of the wool will be reduced.

Nail the fit.

When you analyze on pea coats, make sure you’re attempting it on over the kinds of pieces you’ll typically be dressing it with during the chillier season. That is, if you’ll be donning the coat over thick sweaters, then try it on over a thick sweater rather than a t-shirt to assure it will fit correctly.

• With your arms dangling down straight, and your wrists curled with your palms facing the ground. The sleeves of the coat should touch the tops of your hands. You don’t want them to stretch farther and swallow your hands, nor be too little. As you always require your outermost-facing garment to incorporate everything you’re wearing below it. I.e., you don’t want the sleeves of your sweater pushing out past the sleeve of your coat.

• The coat should rest close to the body but not be too firm in your chest and midsection; you should be capable of moving your arms without feeling overly cramped.
• The shoulder joints should align with the end of your shoulders. With the material on the shoulder resting flat without creases, divots, or stretching. The shoulder really needs to drape right off the rack, as this is an arrangement that will be tricky to impossible for a tailor to make.
• The base of the coat should hit just underneath the hips. It should ideally not completely overlay your butt or reach past your front fly. Any higher in length. And it starts to lose its unique pea coat form and look more like a general overcoat.
• Buttoning the coat should not create pulling or creasing.
• The coat should quickly decrease to your waist before widening out a bit at the hips.
• The buttons should make two right, relatively vertical rows down your torso.
• The collar should remain close to the neckline, or else it will serve as a funnel for the cold breeze. If the remainder of the coat drapes well, but a passage exists there, it can be filled in by donning a scarf.

Pick a versatile, traditional color.

Navy is, of course, the most traditional, but black and gray are also approved colors for a pea coat. Black can be a bit stiff, though, so a deep charcoal gray is arguably the more suitable option if you need something other than blue.