Searches for "100% wool coats" are up 350% in the United States over the past three months, according to Google Trends. Searches for "wool blend coat" run about six times higher.
The gap says something. Most people shopping for a wool coat this winter are looking at a blend and trying to work out how much of it is wool.
Often, not much. A coat sold as wool can be mostly polyester, and the name on the tag doesn't have to tell you. Last week, a Toxome review of Abercrombie & Fitch found ten women's sweaters sold as "Merino Wool-Blend" that were each 30% wool and 66% nylon.
The law only asks that the label list every fiber and its percentage. So the label is where to look. One thing it doesn't have to list is a finish, which is how superwash wool can be coated and still read 100% wool.
What to avoid
- "Wool blend" with no number you like. The name can mean 80% wool or 20%. If wool is under half the shell, most of the coat is something else.
- Polyester, nylon or acrylic in the shell. All three are plastic, and all three cost less than wool.
- Names that suggest wool without a percentage. "Wool-feel," "wool-look" and "brushed" describe a texture. Only the fiber line tells you what it's made of.
- A synthetic lining, if you want all wool. Plenty of 100% wool coats are lined in polyester or acetate. The lining gets its own line on the label, and it's the layer against your shirt.
What to buy
- 100% wool in the shell, or wool with another animal fiber like cashmere or alpaca.
- Felted or boiled wool. It's wool shrunk into a dense, wind-resistant cloth, with no synthetic needed for the structure.
- An unlined coat or a natural lining, if you want nothing but natural fiber against you.
- RWS, as a bonus. The Responsible Wool Standard covers animal welfare and land management on the farms. It says nothing about the finished coat's fiber content, so read the label too.
Here are nine coats, from $268 to $798. Four are 100% wool and two are wool and cashmere. The last three, from INSIS, are mostly wool, and their cards show exactly what else is in them.
1. Felted Wool Blanket Coat
Buck Mason
100% merino wool · $348
An oversized coat cut like a blanket, in 340 GSM felted merino that's been boiled twice for density. It's all wool, with no polyester fill.
2. Felted Wool Wrap Coat
Buck Mason
100% merino wool · $368
The same twice-boiled felted merino, cut as a belted wrap with a shawl collar and deep patch pockets.
3. Felted Wool Chore Coat
Buck Mason
100% merino wool · $268
The least expensive coat here and the most casual. A boxy chore coat in the same 340 GSM felted merino, made to layer over a sweater.
4. Camy Coat
Zadig & Voltaire
90% wool, 10% cashmere · $748
A long camel knit coat with fringe at the hem. The wool is RWS certified, and the only other fiber is cashmere.
5. Erra Cardigan Coat
Zadig & Voltaire
90% wool, 10% cashmere · $798
A belted shawl-collar coat knit like a cardigan. It wears like a heavy sweater on mild days and a coat on cold ones.
6. Solal Jacket
Sézane
100% wool · Made in China · $350
A short double-faced wool jacket with a wide shawl collar. It's unlined, so wool is the only fiber against you.
7. Yak Wool Toggle Long Coat
INSIS
74% wool, 18% lyocell, 8% yak down · $500
A long chalk-white coat with horn-style toggles and a two-way collar. Not 100% wool: the rest is lyocell, a wood-pulp fiber, and yak down. There's no synthetic in it.
8. Yak Wool Toggle Short Coat
INSIS
74% wool, 18% lyocell, 8% yak down · $380
The short version of the toggle coat, in light brown with a waist tie. Same fabric, same label.
9. One-Button Alpaca Wool Short Coat
INSIS
Shell 89% wool, 10% alpaca, 1% polyester · Lining 55% polyester, 45% viscose · $420
A short khaki coat with a single horn-style button. The shell is almost all wool and alpaca, but read the second line: the lining is 55% polyester.
A 100% wool coat costs more up front than a blend at the same store. It's also the one where the name on the tag and the fabric inside it are the same thing.
Under the coat, all six women's quarter-zip sweaters without polyester are cashmere, merino, cotton or wool.
Frequently asked
Buck Mason and Sézane both sell women's coats with a 100% wool shell, from $268 to $368. Zadig & Voltaire's Camy and Erra coats are 90% wool and 10% cashmere, so they are all animal fiber with no synthetic in the blend.
Wool plus something else, usually polyester, nylon or acrylic. The Wool Products Labeling Act requires the label to list every fiber and its percentage, but it sets no minimum, so a coat sold as a wool blend can be mostly synthetic. Check the percentage, not the name.
Wool that has been agitated with heat and water until the fibers mat together into a dense cloth. Buck Mason's coats are 340 GSM felted merino, boiled twice. The process makes the fabric thicker and more wind resistant without adding any other fiber.
Many do, and the lining is listed on its own line. Polyester, acetate and viscose are the most common. Sézane's Solal Jacket is unlined, so the only fiber against you is wool. Read both lines of the label before you buy.
Follow the care label, which for most wool coats means dry cleaning or spot cleaning. Between wears, brush it and hang it to air out. Wool resists odor on its own, so it needs cleaning less often than synthetic outerwear.
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