Which Coat Is Yours? Coat Shapes by Shoulder, Waist, and Occasion

The coat check at a winter wedding, 7 in the evening. She hands the coat over and for 1 second the whole room sees what she chose: the collar, the shoulder, the belt, the color against her face. The dress is under it. The coat is the first sentence.

Which coat is yours? The one that fits at the shoulder, agrees with your waist, and goes where you go. That is the whole decision, and it is easier to make than the charts suggest. Most coat guides sort you by fruit and show you fast fashion on a hanger. In our fitting room in Pozarevac, where we have cut coats since 1990, the decision runs on 5 lines: the shoulder line, the neckline, the waistline, the hemline, and the sleeve line. A coat is decided on the first and third of those, then confirmed on the fourth.

This guide walks the 8 coat shapes we make, in the order a fitter would try them on you. For each one you will see what it does on the body, whose shoulders and waist it agrees with, what it closes over, which days it is for, and which colors read which way. Every photograph is a real Luna coat on a real woman. At the end there is a table that answers the question most women actually arrive with: I have a winter wedding, a boardroom, and a school run, which 1 coat covers all 3.

Shop the pieces in this story: Winter Coats, and Light Coats. Complete size runs are listed first.

“Finally, a long coat that doesn't feel like an oversized uniform. I may not be petite (size 8), but I still deserve to have clothes that look nice, feminine, feel pretty”

Before the shape: 3 tests that decide any coat

Run these in the fitting room or at home with the tags on. They matter more than any silhouette rule, because a coat that fails at the shoulder cannot be rescued by a belt.

The shoulder seam. Run a finger from your neck outward until you feel where the bone ends and the arm begins. The seam of the sleeve should sit exactly there. 1/2 inch of droop and the coat wears you; a seam creeping toward the neck and the coat is too small. Shoulders are the 1 thing a tailor cannot move, so this test comes first.

The hug test. Try the coat over the blazer or the heaviest knit you actually wear, never over a T shirt. Button it. Hug yourself, then reach forward as if for a door. Nothing should pull across the back, and the fronts should not gape. In winter a blazer is the middle layer, and the coat has to cover it fully at the hem and the cuff.

The back and the belt. Stand side on to a mirror. The hem should hang parallel to the floor, front and back. If the coat has a belt, it belongs at your natural waist, the narrowest point, not at the widest. A belt on thick wool does not create a waist where there is none; it ties a sheaf. If your waist is not your narrowest point, tie the belt loosely, tie it higher, or wear the coat open and let the vertical line do the work.

The 8 coat shapes, and who each one agrees with

1. The wrap coat

A wrap coat opens the chest with a wide collar, crosses at the front, and ties or buckles at the waist. On the body it does 2 things at once: it draws a long V from the collar to the belt, and it lets the skirt flare from the waist so the hem moves. In more than 35 years of fittings, the wrap is the coat that fits the most women without alteration. It suits a defined waist and also suggests one, and the collar sits well on broad and narrow shoulders alike because it is soft rather than padded.

Height: at or just below the knee on a petite frame, midi on an average or tall one. What it closes over: dresses and knits first; a fitted blazer if the coat is cut with room, which the Nicole is. Where it goes: the office, a client dinner, a winter wedding as a guest, the theater. Its softness reads approachable rather than severe, which is the right register for a room you want to win over, not intimidate.

The black wool Nicole has a wide collar, a double breasted front, patch pockets you can find without looking, and a belt with a buckle. The same coat comes in gray herringbone with a tie belt, which is the version to choose if black is harsh near your face. Both are cut midi and flare from the waist.

2. The trench, in wool and in jacquard

A trench brings the details that read competent: a structured collar, storm flaps at the shoulder, a belt, a hem that clears the boot. On the body the shoulder flaps square the line, which balances fuller hips, and the belted waist gives the same V as the wrap with more architecture above it. It closes over a blazer by design. Where it goes: the office, travel, the theater, a client dinner. Where it does not go on its own is a formal wedding, unless it is in a pale neutral with quiet hardware, which is exactly why we make one that way.

The Rea is a cream jacquard trench with snap buttons, storm flaps, and a tie belt, cut to the knee, which is the trench for a wedding, a christening, or a lunch that matters. The Kim is the beige long trench with a zip and buttons under the storm flap, flared to a midi, for the commute and the airport. The Clara is the winter one: navy wool, double breasted, a black faux fur collar, long. Petite women take the Rea; tall women can carry the Kim and the Clara to the mid calf.

3. The double breasted fitted coat

2 rows of buttons add width across the chest and a sense of authority that nothing else in the wardrobe supplies. Long lapels that slant downward keep the chest from looking blocked, which is the version we cut. It suits a straight figure that wants presence, broad shoulders that want a frame, and a fuller bust as long as the lapel is long and the stance sits below the fullest point. If your torso is short and your bust full, the single row of a wrap is kinder.

The Isidora is that coat in a mocha wavy textured cloth: double breasted, peak lapels, flap pockets, long and fitted through the body. Mocha is the color of this season and the kindest brown near a warm complexion. It belongs in the boardroom, at the theater, and at a funeral, where its dignity is the point.

4. The coat with the faux fur collar

A large collar adds volume at the neck and pulls every eye upward to the face, which is what you want at a winter wedding, a gala, or a dinner where you will be photographed arriving. It suits medium and tall heights and balanced or stronger shoulders. If your neck is short, choose a coat whose collar detaches, wear the neckline beneath it open, and never pair it with a turtleneck. Because the collar is the event, this is a second coat, not the daily one.

The Lucy is black wool fitted through the waist, double breasted, knee length and flared, with a large detachable faux fur collar tied with pompoms; unclip the collar on a Tuesday and it is an office coat. It comes in red with a red collar for the woman who is happy to be found in a crowd. The Paula puts the faux fur at the shawl collar and the cuffs on a black textured cloth with a single button, knee length, and is the quieter of the 3. The Selina coat, red wool with a red faux fur shawl collar and a tie belt, sits below the knee and is the one for a December wedding.

5. The cape

A cape widens the shoulder line and narrows everything beneath it, so it flatters a pear and an hourglass and gives a small frame a ceremonial scale. The arms are free through the slits, and so it works over an evening dress with sleeves or a blazer with structure. Not a commuting coat: the coat for the winter wedding, the opera, the theater, and the photograph on the steps.

The Selina cape is black wool with a black faux fur collar and a tie belt. Petite women wear it closed and let the collar do the framing; taller women can wear it open over a long dress.

6. The short tailored coat

A coat that ends above the knee lengthens the leg, which makes it the coat for petite women and for anyone whose legs are shorter than her torso. It is also the coat for the car, the train, the school run, and any day spent getting in and out of things. What it closes over: pants and skirts first. Over a midi dress it chops the line, so keep it for trousers, a pencil skirt, or a knee length dress.

The Iris is a black jacquard short coat with a wide stand collar, an asymmetric zip, a belt with a buckle, and a tiered flounce skirt; the flounce is what keeps a short coat from looking like a jacket. It comes in cream beige and in brown with a floral jacquard hem.

7. The long belted coat

The longest line we cut. A midi coat with a belt is regal on a medium or tall frame and on an hourglass or a proportionate figure, and it is the coat for the woman who is photographed: the mother of the bride in winter, the keynote arrival, the client dinner in a cold city. On a petite frame the hem must sit at the slimmest part of the calf, not the widest, and the belt must be tied high. It closes over a blazer as long as the belt and the blazer button do not fight for the same inch.

The Linea is ivory textured cloth with a notch collar, 3 buttons, a belt with a black buckle, and flap pockets, cut to a long midi. Ivory is the color that reads most expensive in a winter photograph, and the one that asks the most of its owner; it is an event coat, not a school run coat.

8. The light jacquard coat

A light coat in a woven pattern is the dress coat: it goes over a cocktail dress or a gown to the wedding, the gala, and the theater, and it carries the transitional weeks of October and March on its own. It is cut slim and is not meant to close over a blazer. The pattern adds visual weight, so it suits a straight or tall frame best; on a petite frame it works because the print is small in scale and sits on a black ground.

The Emma is a black light coat with a teal floral jacquard, a shirt collar, and a tie belt, knee length; the same coat comes in silver floral jacquard, which is the one for a December evening.

Which coat for which day

What the color says before you speak

Black is the office and the funeral and, near a soft or warm complexion, the color most likely to make a face look tired; if that is you, take the gray herringbone. Navy is the color almost every complexion can wear at the collar, and the one that reads most trustworthy in a room. Gray herringbone softens everything and is the kindest neutral over 50. Beige and cream belong to warm complexions and to daylight. Ivory is the event coat and reads the most expensive of all in a winter photograph. Mocha is this season's brown and the warmest authority we make. Red is a second coat, for the city and the theater, never for a solemn day; worn with everything else neutral it says 1 thing, clearly, once.

The questions women ask us before they buy a coat online

Will it close over my blazer? The Nicole, the Clara, the Kim, the Isidora, and the Linea are cut for it. The Emma is not; it is a dress coat. Order the size that fits your shoulder over the blazer, and let the belt take care of the waist.

What if the sleeve is long? A coat sleeve should end at the wrist bone with room for a glove. Sleeve length is the easiest alteration there is, and a coat is worth the visit.

How warm is a wool coat, really? Warm enough for a US city winter over a blazer or a knit. Over a thin dress on a January night, add a scarf at the neck; the collar does the rest.

Care. Coats are dry clean only, once at the end of the season, and hung on a wide hanger with the belt hung flat, not knotted. A coat treated this way lasts 10 winters.

Sizing and returns. Our coats run in US sizes 2 to 14 depending on the style; the model in the photographs wears a size 2. If the coat you order is not the coat you imagined, returns are self serve within 30 days, no questions asked, and shipping inside the US takes 2 to 5 days.

1 good coat or 3 cheap ones? A coat you wear 100 days a winter for 10 winters costs less per wearing than anything else you own. That arithmetic is in 1 good coat or 3 cheap ones.

The coat in inches

The shoulder. On the bone, over the blazer you will wear beneath it. A coat seam may sit 1/4 inch past the bone to make room for a jacket; 1/2 inch past reads as a size up, and 1 inch as a coat borrowed from someone taller.

The chest. A winter coat needs 3 to 4 inches of ease over the bust measured with the blazer on. The hug test is the way to check without a tape: button the coat over the blazer, cross the arms as if hugging yourself, and reach forward; the back must not strain and the armhole must not bite. If the shoulder fits and the hug fails, size up and have the waist taken in, because a tailor can remove cloth at the side seams and cannot add it at the shoulder.

The sleeve. 1/2 inch past the blazer sleeve, covering the cuff, and stopping before the base of the thumb, with room for a glove. A coat sleeve can be shortened 1 to 2 inches for $40 to $60, more with a cuff or a turn back, and lengthened only if the maker left the cloth inside, which is rare. The sleeve opening must clear the blazer sleeve with 1 inch to spare, or the coat rides up at the elbow every time you bend your arm.

The hem. Knee length means at the kneecap or 1 inch above. A midi coat falls 6 to 8 inches below the knee, below the widest inch of the calf, and on a woman under 5 foot 4 it must stop at the slimmest inch of the lower calf or be taken up, which costs $40 to $80 on a lined coat and cannot be done at all on a hem with a flounce or a border. Over a dress, the coat may be longer, for a column, or shorter, so the dress shows below it; the dress can be longer than the coat. Decide the 2 together so the hems do not end in the same band.

The collar. A collar that stands 2 inches lifts the face on a long neck; on a short neck, 1 inch, worn open, or a faux fur collar that unclips for a Tuesday. A belt sits on the crease of the waist or 1/2 inch above, and on a full midsection is tied loosely 1 inch high or left to hang.

The cloth and the weight. A wool coat of 20 to 24 ounces a yard holds a line and is warm to about 20 degrees over a blazer; a lighter wool is a fall coat. A coat you can crush in 1 hand and see the crease stay is a coat that will look tired by February.

More questions women ask before they invest in a coat

What size if I wear blazers underneath? The size that passes the hug test over the blazer; usually your blazer size, sometimes 1 up, and then the waist taken in. Never the size that fits over a blouse alone.

Best coat for business travel over suits? A wool trench or a wrap with a belt: it closes over a jacket, holds its shape folded in an overhead bin, and reads right at the airport and the client's door. The Clara wool trench and the Nicole wrap are the 2 we send to airports.

Is a camel coat still the investment color? It is 1 of 3. Camel and beige for a warm complexion and daylight; gray herringbone for a soft or cool one; navy for almost everyone in a room. Black is the office and the funeral, and it tires a soft face, so if you own 1 coat, ask your face first.

How long should a wool coat be for a wet commute? The knee or 1 inch above, and never a hem that touches a boot top; a midi coat in rain collects the street at the hem. The Rea and the Iris are the commute coats.

Which coat shape if I have a tummy? A wrap tied loosely 1 inch high, a single breasted worn open over a column of 1 color, or a cape, which draws no line at the waist at all. Not a double breasted buttoned at the waist, and not a belt on the widest inch.

Is it worth shortening coat sleeves to show a shirt cuff? A coat sleeve covers the cuff; it is the blazer sleeve that shows it. If the coat sleeve passes the base of the thumb, yes, shorten it; $40 to $60 is the best money on a $900 coat.

How many winters should an $800 coat last? 10, with 1 dry clean a year, a wide hanger, and the belt hung flat. 100 wearings a winter for 10 winters is $0.80 a wearing.

A $400 coat or a $900 coat for long term use? The $900 coat if the cloth is a heavy wool, the shoulder fits, and the lining is sewn rather than glued; the $400 coat if you will replace it in 3 years anyway. The difference is in the cloth weight and the shoulder, both of which you can feel in the first minute.

Can I wear a leather trench to the office in my 50s? Yes, in black or a dark brown, cut to the knee with a clean shoulder, over tailoring. It reads as authority, not as a costume, when everything under it is plain.

Frequently asked questions

How should a coat fit at the shoulder? The sleeve seam sits at the end of your shoulder bone, not down the arm and not toward the neck. Try the coat over the blazer or knit you wear most, button it, hug yourself, and reach forward. Nothing should pull. Shoulders cannot be altered, so this is the test that decides.

Which coat shape fits the most women? The wrap coat. Its wide collar and belted, crossing front open the chest and define the waist on nearly every figure, and the skirt flares from the waist so the hem moves. In our fittings it is the coat that most often needs no alteration at all.

Which coat length for a petite woman? At or just above the knee. A short tailored coat lengthens the leg; a wrap or trench cut to the knee keeps the proportion. If you love a midi, the hem must sit at the slimmest part of the calf and the belt must be tied high.

What coat do I wear to a winter wedding as a guest? A coat with a faux fur collar, a cape, or a light jacquard coat over the dress. Choose ivory, black, navy, or a pattern that agrees with the dress, and leave the trench and the short car coat for the office.

Can I wear a belted coat if my waist is not my narrowest point? Yes, if you tie it loosely or slightly high, or wear the coat open so the front edges draw 2 long vertical lines. A belt cinched at the widest point of thick wool only adds volume there.

Do Luna coats close over a blazer? The wool coats and the trenches do, the Nicole, Clara, Kim, Isidora, and Linea among them. The Emma light jacquard coat is a dress coat, cut slim to wear over a dress or a fine knit.

The Fitting Room at Home

Order the 2 sizes that bracket your shoulder. Run the 6 tests in your own mirror, in the shoes and the blazer you will wear. Keep the one that passes and send the other back within 30 days, self serve, no questions. If you would rather be told, send your 3 numbers, shoulder, bust, and hip, and the day it is for, to connect@lunafashionhouse.com; a person who knows the cut replies within 1 business day with the size and the piece.

Start with the shoulder, then the waist, then the day you will wear it most. If you want 1 coat that does everything, it is the wrap. If you want the coat that gets photographed, it is the ivory Linea or the faux fur collar. See them all in Winter Coats and Light Coats, complete size runs first, with 30 days to decide at home.