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"When I first moved to New York from Florida, I&amp;#039;d never owned a true winter coat. That first year, I had no idea what to shop for and ended up with a giant, shapeless, puffy black thing that added about 50 pounds to my frame. My coat-choosing skills have improved quite a bit since then, but I could still use some advice, since it&amp;#039;s something I&amp;#039;ll be wearing every day for about four long months. This year, I got the chance to chat with Victoria Pericon, the Burlington Coat Factory&amp;#039;s &amp;quot;Coat Coach&amp;quot; and editor of SavvyMommy.com, to answer some of my biggest questions (and yours!) about finding the best outerwear. If you can only afford one coat, what should it be? Victoria suggests a classic wool trench\u2014a look that never goes out of style.     What about for plus-sizes? So many coats are nipped in the middle. Consider a peacoat, since they&amp;#039;re straight through the waist. (That&amp;#039;s me trying on an Andrea Brem peacoat, at right. It&amp;#039;s $69.99 at Burlington&amp;#039;s NYC store.) How can you make sure that a coat fits right? Bring a sweater or light zip-up with you to the store. The coat should be snug with that layer underneath. How do you make sure kids wear their coats? &amp;quot;Bring your kid to the store to help you pick something out, and give him or her a budget,&amp;quot; suggests Victoria. If your child likes the coat, it&amp;#039;s more likely to get worn. And don&amp;#039;t get one that&amp;#039;s too big, thinking it will last for several years. You need a snug fit for warmth. (Plus, it&amp;#039;ll look better, so your kid&amp;#039;s more likely to keep it on.)     If I&amp;#039;m wearing my coat all winter, I want it to be fashionable. What are the latest trends in coats?     Victoria is seeing lots of shorter coats that hit at the waist, belted styles (that&amp;#039;s me in a $209.99 red Laundry by Shelli Segal coat at left) and unique buttons (I love that $89.99 coat with toggle buttons that I&amp;#039;m wearing at right). How do you keep something puffy from looking, well, too puffy? The new, thinner down coats are plenty warm, Victoria assures me.\u2014Jennifer Conrad What do you look for in a winter coat? Let me know in Comments. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/life/a41231/a-cozy-coat-6189/>