Best time to buy a winter coat

[valleythriftshopper]

I think the best time to buy a winter coat at the thrifts is now.  I have been seeing so many nice coats just sitting on the racks for weeks in some cases.  Today I happened to be looking a them and saw a new looking suede and faux shearling coat marked at $7.99 with a green tag.  I did a double take because green has been half price since Wednesday, so even at $4.00 it was there for three days (I bought it today).  I would rather have faux leather because I don't think it is neccessary to use animals for coats, but at least buying it a thrift I am not supporting that industry.  

I also bought a Burberry (real) trench coat for $8.00, not half price.  It was marked a size 8, but seems much larger, I think it might be too big now, so I am regretting buying it a little.  It is a newer made in USA Burberry, not the made in England kind, those don't go for so much on Ebay used so I probably couldn't sell it for much if I change my mind- oh well.

[akbjr]

Good point about this being a good time to look for winter coats! Great find on the Burberry, what a deal! It looks really nice. Burberry never goes out of style!

[Jay2TheRescue]

Be careful with the Burberry trench coats.  Lately they've been using different materials to make their coats, and they are virtually impossible to clean without ruining them. 

Watch out for coats that list 2% metallic on the content label and the care instruction of "Dry clean with Special Care"  These fibers shrink up when dry-cleaned and the coat will have an extremely wrinkled appearance, and it is impossible to press it to any wearable condition.

[valleythriftshopper]

This coat is rayon and viscose.  It is very soft, but I think the size must be wrong because it is more like a 12 or 14 than a 8.  When I tried it on at home I felt like it looked too big, I should really try these things on more carefully at the store!

The leather coat, because it is a light color, looks like it might get dirty easily and because it is kind of a suede-like leather you can't wipe it at all.  But because it was only four bucks I felt like I could wear it for one winter and if it looked grubby I could redonate it if I don't want to get it cleaned (dry cleaning is expensive around here).  

[mccoysnina]

The sizing of women's clothing is not eepecially standardized.  A size is whatever the manufacturer says it is.  Thus one company's 8 is a 12 in another company's size.  The higher end companies se this to their advantage and deliberately "size up" their clothes.  So often their smaller sizes will be bigger so customers can say honestly they are wearing a 6 or an 8. Oneway to keep customers coming back.
Jeannie