Petite Winter Parka Hunt

August 9, 2016 4:22 AM

It's time for me to buy a new casual winter coat. Please help me find a petite, fur-lined, hooded, olive green parka!

I'm looking for a winter coat (yes, I know it's only August!). I absolutely love the coat that Anna Friel wears in Marcella, but this one, at £535, is out of my price range. I am looking for an olive green, mid-length, brown fur-lined, petite (or petite-friendly) parka.

I've heard that Aritzia is good for petites even though it's not a petites-specific brand, but because I'm hesitant to order one because I'm not super familiar with their sizing (and I find that sizing charts are not always the greatest indicator of how an individual item of clothing will fit) and I'd have to spend an astronomical amount on shipping and taxes to have it shipped to Europe (and even more if I have to return or exchange it). Even so, I will consider it if it's a coat that I can keep for the next 10 years.

I'm coming up short on Topshop, Asos, River Island, Next and even eBay sites. I don't know if this is because I'm looking too early, though.

Are there European-friendly clothing websites I'm overlooking? Otherwise, I will be in the Amsterdam, Brussels, and Paris in the next weeks and months, so are there any brick and mortar stores I can visit that will be carrying petite-friendly coats already? Should I go with Aritizia?

If the brand is of exceptionally good and durable quality, I am willing to pay up to $/€400.

posted by Enchanting Grasshopper to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (7 answers total)

I don't know what their petite sizing is like but my last two coats came from Zara. They're both down filled parkas of varying length/colour, and there were a lot of other different ones in store to try out (including green ones along the lines of your image). Mine are one and four years old and holding up well so far. They have a website if you want to have a look at what's available, it seems to be kept updated with the changing stock etc.
posted by shelleycat at 6:35 AM on August 9, 2016

How petite are we talking? I asked a similar question several years back and wound up with the recommended marmot montreaux in xs. It's warm, not too puffy, fits a sweater and the shoulders aren't too big. My only gripe is that the arms are a little long but I just folded them over. I will probably only get one more year out of it, and buy the exact same one.

I find that down coats from Jcrew are certainly small enough, but the quality is majorly hit or miss and the brand name markup is stupid. If my budget were a bit bigger I would get a Canada Goose coat.
posted by pintapicasso at 7:15 AM on August 9, 2016

I would check out some of Fjallraven's options, they tick off several of your boxes. They typically run a bit big, but they routinely make sizes down to xxs.
posted by furnace.heart at 7:37 AM on August 9, 2016

How about The North Face Arctic Parka? They don't come specifically in petite sizes, but North Face tends to run small.
posted by Kriesa at 8:16 AM on August 9, 2016

Nordstrom has a lot of this type of hooded anorak/field jackets in olive, some with fur trim. One, two, three, four. Option one is sold out in petites, but the Anniversary Sale just ended so they will likely restock for fall.

They do ship to the UK, not sure if they offer free ship and returns from the UK as the do from the US.
posted by foodmapper at 11:09 AM on August 9, 2016

This Eddie Bauer one is a pretty close duplicate and is available in petites. $160 USD before shipping. They do ship internationally. I've always found their stuff to be high quality.

Kriesa: "How about The North Face Arctic Parka? They don't come specifically in petite sizes, but North Face tends to run small."

Quick note on North Face, while they're excellent quality and they do indeed run small I'm 5'1"/155cm and the sleeves on my North Face parka are way too long on me.
posted by capricorn at 4:25 PM on August 9, 2016

Response by poster: That Eddie Bauer coat is gorgeous but I can't do chest pockets!! Same with the Halogen one. I had forgotten about Nordstrom (even though I bought my fall jacket from there)!

Can the North Face sleeves be shortened?

Thanks for all the suggestions.
posted by Enchanting Grasshopper at 12:57 AM on August 10, 2016