11 Outerwear Pieces You Want to Have in Your Wardrobe

Every cold season deserves a statement piece, and the Alim flight jacket from Werner Christ makes the case effortlessly. It is cut from dark brown lambskin and lined with the characteristic golden-brown shearling, then finished with a zip closure and two front pockets. The regular fit and minimal detailing keep the look clean and modern, so the warmth does the talking.

The idea behind it is more than a century old. When aviators took to open cockpits during the First World War, they learned quickly that altitude is brutally cold. Leather, which blocks the wind, became standard flying gear, and sheepskin soon followed, since shearling traps heat in its dense fleece while the hide stays tough on the outside. By the 1930s, air forces had turned the idea into formal uniform. The American B-3 bomber jacket was built for crews in unheated, high-altitude aircraft, while the RAF relied on thick sheepskin flying jackets of its own during the Second World War. Slimmer leather styles such as the A-2, with knit cuffs and waistbands, ran alongside them.

After the war, surplus jackets walked out of the barracks and into civilian life. Pilots, motorcyclists, film stars and musicians all made the silhouette a symbol of adventure and a touch of rebellion. That heritage is why the Alim still feels right today. Wear it open over a knit and a collared shirt, or zip it up against a Nordic gale. Either way, you are carrying a piece of aviation history, softened by modern lambskin and made to last well into the colder winter months.

From the classic Italian brand Sealup comes the Genova, a long peacoat in navy, made from pure wool. It is double-breasted with a six-button closure, wide lapels and buttoned cuffs, and the interior is lined in black with gold piping. It works with almost everything: denim, formal trousers, chinos, you name it. Sealup’s label proudly reads Milano 1935, and it brings Italian polish to a coat with a distinctly salty past.

The peacoat was first worn by sailors in the European navies, with roots reaching back to the early sixteenth century. The name is often linked to the Dutch word “pijjekker”, a jacket made of coarse wool cloth. Everything about the design was practical at sea. The dense, tightly woven wool shrugged off wind and spray, the double-breasted front could traditionally be fastened on either side to face the weather, the wide lapels turned up to protect the neck, and the deep pockets sheltered cold hands.

The Royal Navy and the United States Navy both adopted versions, and after the Second World War surplus peacoats were sold off and found a second life with students, artists and city commuters. The traditional version was short, because a long hem gets in the way on deck. The Genova stretches the length towards an overcoat, which suits city streets far better than rigging. After five centuries, the formula needs very little fixing: navy wool, sturdy buttons and a shape that flatters nearly everyone. It is a true classic with a great heritage, and it will still look right in twenty years.

Gloverall presents a new take on its classic Monty duffle coat, here in a shorter, hip-length version in rust brown. It still features the signature wooden toggles and jute rope fastenings, along with two patch pockets and a generous hood. Crafted from an Italian wool-blend cloth, it is warm enough to withstand the colder temperatures of winter. A stitched label inside, with fields for name, rank and serial number, is a playful nod to the coat’s military past.

The duffle coat takes its name from Duffel, a town near Antwerp in Belgium that was known for a thick, coarse woollen cloth. In the late nineteenth century, the English outfitter John Partridge began making coats from it, and the Royal Navy adopted them for use on deck in the cold North Atlantic. The toggles and rope loops were practical, since they could be fastened with gloved or frozen fingers, and the hood was large enough to wear over a hat or helmet. In the Second World War the coat became an icon when Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery was photographed wearing one, earning the style the nickname “Monty”.

When the war ended, huge stocks of surplus duffle coats were sold off. Harold Morris bought up military stock and founded Gloverall in 1951, turning the coat into a civilian staple. Students, intellectuals and even a certain bear from Peru made it a beloved part of British life. The short Monty takes that heritage and trims it to fit modern life: less coat to trip over, all the character intact.

Ten C’s Ice Storm Car Coat is built to withstand the worst of the outdoors. Its outer layer is made from a patented blend of polyester and polyamide, boiled and waxed to produce a tough fabric meant to last a lifetime. A down-padded inner liner adds extra warmth, while a combined button-and-zip closure and several practical pockets handle the details. In olive green, with a high neck and a button storm flap, it looks as serious as it feels.

Waxing cloth to make it weatherproof is one of the oldest tricks in outerwear. Sailors and fishermen once treated heavy canvas with fish oil or linseed oil to keep out spray and rain, producing stiff, smelly but effective oilskins. In 1894, John Barbour began selling oilskin clothing in South Shields, England, to mariners facing the North Sea. Later, wax-based dressings improved on the sticky oils, and waxed cotton jackets became the uniform of farmers, motorcyclists and the British countryside. Brands such as Barbour and Belstaff became synonymous with the genre, and the look, creased, patinated and gradually personalised, became a badge of lived-in durability.

The car coat arrived in the early twentieth century, when draughty motor cars led drivers to ask for something shorter than an overcoat that would not tangle with the pedals. Ten C combines both traditions, wrapping the waxed-cloth philosophy in a contemporary technical shape. The boiling gives the fabric a dense, slightly crisp hand, and the wax gives it staying power. Underneath sits a down liner for the deepest cold. It is the waxed coat grown up for a modern winter.

Maurizio Baldassari’s navy gilet blends two luxuries: a pure cashmere outer and a lightly padded interior. Elastic side panels let it slide over a blazer or knitwear without feeling restrictive, and the cashmere construction stays lightweight and water-repellent, offering three times the insulation of wool according to the brand. A ribbed collar and hem and a brown zip pull keep the look polished yet relaxed, and the labels inside confirm it was made in Italy. They also name the padding: Thermore.

Thermore is an Italian insulation specialist, founded in Milan in 1972 by Lucio Siniscalchi, and it has been supplying padding to outerwear brands ever since. Its material is a synthetic, built from ultra-fine polyester fibres and designed as an alternative to goose down. Unlike down, synthetic insulation keeps working when damp, dries quickly and does not migrate through seams, and it is easy to care for. Thermore was also among the first in the industry to make insulation from recycled PET bottles, starting in the 1980s, and in 2019 it launched Ecodown, made entirely from post-consumer plastic bottles. More recently it has focused on slim insulation such as Invisiloft, which is designed to deliver high warmth with minimal thickness.

That makes it ideal for a gilet, where bulk is the enemy. Thin padding keeps your core warm without adding volume under a coat or disturbing the line of a jacket, while the cashmere surface supplies the luxury. It is a smart layering piece for the colder months ahead: over a fine knit, under a tweed overcoat, or simply on its own in crisp morning air.

Aspesi’s dark brown overshirt is crafted from a two-faced, incredibly soft pure wool fabric. It keeps the details of a shirt, with single cuffs, a shirt collar and a snap button closure, in a regular fit with two chest pockets. The double-faced wool adds great character and warmth, which makes it a perfect outerwear piece for the transitional period between autumn and winter, when a coat is too much and a shirt is too little.

The overshirt is a descendant of the working man’s wool shirt. In the nineteenth century, lumberjacks, miners and mill workers in North America and Europe wore heavy wool shirts as outer layers, because wool keeps insulating even when damp. Armies issued wool field shirts for the same reason. By the mid-twentieth century the style had drifted into casual wear as the plaid shirt-jacket, and later designers began reworking it into a refined staple that could be worn indoors and out.

Aspesi belongs to that Italian tradition of elegant utility. Founded in Milan in 1969 by Alberto Aspesi, the label built its name on understated outerwear with a technical sensibility and a distinctly Italian restraint. The Camicia 13 Dub shows why. Double-faced wool means two layers of cloth joined into one, which gives a soft hand on both sides and a clean finish without needing a lining. Wear it buttoned like a shirt, open over a tee or knit, or under a coat as a late-season layer. It is easy, relaxed and feels lived-in from day one.