Probably the most important part of any winter wardrobe, choosing the right outerwear for the right occasion can turn out be tricky – whether it’s a casual sweater for the laidback evening or a neat parka for the formal occasion.

We did the homework for you; here’s our outerwear guide for men this winter.

Choosing The Right One

Now outerwear is a pretty broad category of clothes and you have to take a lot into account - how you’re going to style it, and what occasion you’re buying it for and the rest of your wardrobe.

Keep these things in mind while picking up outerwear:

• Experiment: For daily office-going needs, we prefer getting something like a trench coat (or two) or a medium leather jacket with a bunch of cardigans to keep our layering options open, and just throwing in various types of shoes and pants to work for different occasions.

• Keep it dark: Unlike the summers, winter colours are more on the darker side of the spectrum. That’s not to say that combining colours is less important; you just have to work with a darker palette, so choose your shades accordingly.

   

   

• Keep it sturdy: If you’re buying for casual, everyday purposes, it’s OK to be a bit lenient with where you shop from. But as outerwear – at least the heavier kind which helps with the cold - usually lasts at least a couple of seasons, we’d advise doing your due research on the item of clothing and the brand before going for it.

Material

Choosing the right material for those coats and jackets can often be the difference between comfort and freezing to death. Here are some quick pointers:

• If it’s for everyday office wear, material like leather or wool may provide better utility for the weather.

• You want your innermost layer to be cotton to avoid sweating. Cotton is also the base fabric for corduroy, and a well-fitting corduroy jacket with denims and boots is one of our favorite winter looks.

   

   

• Looking at what’s trending can be a good place to start. For now, we’re all lucky that things are moving back to the 80s and the 90s, so the vintage-looking leather jacket in that dusty cupboard could be brought back to the limelight.

Styling

How to style outerwear may sound like a simple thing to do for guys – just put it on, right? – it’s not.

• Cardigans: More easily recognised as grandpa-sweaters, the market is currently flooding with a variety of types and styles of cardigans, which we totally approve of as they look dapper. The best thing is that the classic cardigan could be varied to suit various occasions, like a slim-fit, shorter one for a formal look, or a loose, longer one for casual outings.

• Layering: Mixing and matching your outerwear with other outerwear and other clothes can be a useful skill in your winter-wear arsenal, allowing you to do more things with what you already have rather than spending money on going out and shopping for a new look every few weeks. For example, longer overcoats and jackets could be easily paired with oversized cardigans or sweaters for a sporty look, or a shirt and boots for formal occasions – outerwear is especially good at providing versatility to your overall wardrobe.

   

   

• Accessories: Our personal favourites are scarves, which never seem to go out of style, though we hear that hats and other headgear is also quite in right now.