Choosing between warm and stylish!

[ArwenUndomniel]

I've recently lost a lot of weight through illness and as a result now I seem to have zero cold tolerance. I can be wearing a thermal top under a couple of layers of wool and will still feel too cold - perimenopause is definitely not helping either. I'm just going with lots of layers at the moment but the weight loss means I need to get some new clothes and I would really like to be able to choose some of them based on looking nice in them, as opposed to not freezing to death! Any ideas? I'd especially love a beautiful stylish winter coat that didn't come from Millets!

Have you had your iron levels checked? If you’ve been ill you may now be anaemic - feeling unreasonably cold was one of my main symptoms. I would suggest a blood test if you haven’t had one very recently.

But anyway - stylish winter coat is a bit of a wide field. MaxMara, Toast, M&S, Zara, Primark? What’s your budget and do you want straight out of the shop or pre-owned? And is it for standing at the edge of a football pitch, commuting, or date nights in the NY? What clothing size? Tall, average or petite height? And do you want to match an entire tube carriage in a black puffer thing, or would you prefer something more individual?

Sorry, not very much pertinent information in my OP. I don't really mind where it comes from - second-hand is great but I would also go up to £200 for new. That would rule out anything much higher-end than Jigsaw during sale time I suppose.

I'm 5'5" and averagely built, in the sense that I'm not "delicate" but I'm currently underweight and a size 6 pretty much everywhere. It would probably be sensible to size up in the hope I can gain a little weight though.

I would mainly want a coat for everyday purposes like shopping, commuting etc, but I wouldn't regard a puffa as particularly stylish. I don't like black and look best in dark reds, greens and browns. As for materials, wool would be great but I probably wouldn't get that new at my budget.

What I've found from looking in the shops is that most winter coats are single breasted affairs with either one button around navel height or no buttons at all and a silly tie-belt thing. They don't cover the chest and they're not lined so there doesn't look to be much warmth in them. They are also, despite being nearly at the limit of my budget level, not wool!

May be worth reviving this thread now the sales are on.

And it's bloody freezing. I'm really struggling with staying warm at the moment, so need to step up my coat-finding efforts.