Cover Up, It's Still Winter!

While spring fashion may be dominating store windows and magazine covers, there is still time to buy a coat if you haven't as yet geared up for the cold winter weather to come. With February long being the chilliest time of year, you'll have to be quick to get the ergonomic microfiber jacket or luxurious quilted leather parka before the sales end.

And just when you thought the only executives still wearing a tailored coat were ripe for retirement, the style is back - with the more buttons the better. "I suddenly feel for the tailored coat again. We've had enough of the casual, sporty looks," says Giorgio Armani, who's London retrospective is still attracting an abundance of visitors.

If you decide to invest in a new fitted coat, the choices are surprisingly wide, from the short tailored coat, favored by Helmut Lang and Prada, that revives the mod spirit of the 1960's, to the double-breasted long coat with a touch of the military. That style was done with panache by Gucci's Tom Ford and Gianfranco Ferré, as well as Armani.

Wider lapels or funnel necklines update the classic army style. To make these swashbuckling outfits seem even more glamorous, the favored color is white, although the only pale coats in the City's streets are traditional beige shearlings and raincoats lined in fleece or plaid.