When I moved back to Chicago after two decades in New York City, I worried that I’d gone too soft to make it through a full-on Midwest winter. So, with the tenacity of a Sherpa plotting the ascent of Everest, I set out to find the absolute warmest coat on the planet. Friends, I’m here to tell you: Last week’s frigid temps proved that my hours of research paid off. With this well-made down-filled baby zipped up from my calves to my chin, and that humongous fur-trimmed hood pulled low, I felt as warm as if I were home under the covers. (Canada Goose claims that the Mystique is comfortable to 30 degrees below zero. I well believe it.) Unlike many down coats, its outer skin is tough enough to repel serious winds (not to mention prevent any down from poking through). And though it’s difficult to call something this enormously puffy fashionable, its utility-parka looks are the definition of classic.

$750 at Bloomingdale’s, 900 N. Michigan Ave., 312-915-3916