OUTERWEAR Warm up to colorful winter fashions

Use trendy accessories to update traditional winter coats.
BALTIMORE SUN
It's time to check your coat. Not to mention your boots, scarves, hats and gloves.
In many parts of the country, weather forecasters are predicting a colder- and wetter-than-normal next couple of months. So you're going to need winter wear that keeps you warm, but in great-looking styles that lift your spirits.
If you're the type who thinks of a winter coat as a major investment, stick to a traditional black, navy, charcoal or brown wool and update it with trendy accessories. (The most versatile length is between knee and ankle. It looks good with skirts or pants.) Or buy a tweed: Your coat will be fashion-forward this year -- the menswear look is oh-so-hot -- and then revert back to a classic for the next several seasons.
For every trend, there's a countertrend. Menswear style is influencing a lot of fashion this season, but the ladylike look is just as important in outerwear as it is in dresses and sportswear. Picture Jackie O before she was Jackie O -- in those feminine coats with a princess cut she wore as first lady.
"The newness is in all the shaped coats," says Roseanne Morrison, a fashion editor at the Tobe Report, a fashion merchandising publication. "Everything has a waist." Look for belts, inset waistlines and seaming.
When you're buying a second coat, you can let yourself go a little. Choices in styles abound, including a variety of woolen short coats, Arctic hooded parkas, jackets and layering pieces. Pea coats, barn coats, duffles and motorcycle jackets are available this season in lots of colors and novelty textures.
The boldest way to make a statement is to buy a coat in winter white or one of the hot new pastels such as pink, ice blue or mint green. Any hue will do, though, as long as it's bright.
Knock-off fashions
The fashion designers' runways for fall were filled with skiwear, such as Ralph Lauren's fur-trimmed parkas, and these have made their way into stores just in time for the wintry weather. If you can't afford a designer parka, what retailers call "performance outerwear" from companies such as Pacific Trail suddenly looks stylish this winter, especially if it's in a great color. That includes padded vests.
"Quilted vests are incredibly popular," says Erica Archambault, public-relations manager at Gap, Inc. "They're transitional as well as great layering pieces. The quilting is condensed; they're more refined; and they have a more feminine fit." Parkas, too, aren't as bulky as in past years. Like this season's woolen coats, they have a more feminine shape.
Details can say "this is new" as much as certain styles. Today's statement looks include hardware such as zippers, ribbons, toggle and turnkey closures, fur and faux fur, big collars and hoods.
Fake shearling continues to be everywhere, says Diane Daly of Hecht's department stores. "Buy a three-quarter coat in shearling or something in a great color. Color is key this season."
But if a pastel pea jacket just isn't you, add color to your winterwear with a wonderful scarf or a knit hat, perhaps in multicolor stripes. Driver and newsboy caps may not keep you as warm, but they look very Now.
Hand warmers
Dress gloves made news on the fall runways -- first of all because they were there, but also because of their offbeat colors such as acid green. The newest gloves for outdoor wear are just as unexpectedly bright.
Boots, of course, never go out of fashion, but this season you can update a more conservative coat with knee-high styles and boots with hardware such as nail-head trim, buckles and zippers. And there are always Uggs, the sheepskin-lined boots made popular by Kate Hudson and other hip young movie stars.
To wrap it up: This season buy yourself a nicely fitted coat or a parka in a pastel color, add several trendy accessories, and you may find yourself actually hoping for a blizzard.