M&S Coats: Which Shape to Buy This Winter, and What to Pay

M&S has had a good year in outerwear. The autumn collection walked at London Fashion Week this season, a first for the brand, and the coats are where that confidence shows: funnel necks on nearly everything and faux fur on most of the collars. The catch is that the range is big. M&S has around a hundred women's coats in stock at the moment, and half of them look alike in a thumbnail. So this is the range sorted by shape, with what each one costs and who it suits. Prices are what we found on 26 October and will move.

Funnel-neck longline coats

The shape of the season, and the one M&S has gone hardest on. A funnel neck is a stand collar that sits up around the jaw, so you get the warmth of a scarf without wearing one. The Funnel Neck PU Trim Longline Coat is the one Who What Wear pulled straight off the runway: longline, navy, a faux-leather edge on the collar and a bit of wool in the mix, at £100. The trim is the point; it reads as a dearer coat than the plain versions. The brushed black midi version is £80 and does the same job without the trim. Buy this shape if you wear a lot of black and grey and want one coat that works for the office and the pub. Skip it if you live in a hooded parka; a funnel neck and a hood fight each other.

Faux-fur collars and trims

M&S has put faux fur on more coats this year than I can remember, and most of it is removable. The Faux Fur Trim Short Coat is £85, a wool-blend with the collar you can take off on a mild day. The Faux Fur Collared Longline Trench at £150 is the most expensive coat in the women's range and the showiest: brown, belted, with a full collar that frames your face. Who What Wear reckons the faux-fur double-breasted longline from the runway could pass for triple the price. The collar does the work, so a detachable one is better value than a coat that is fur all over. You wear it to the party and take it off for the Tuesday commute.

Tailored longline coats with wool

This is where M&S is strongest on price. The Longline Tailored Coat with Wool is £70, in black or chocolate, single-breasted with a notch lapel: a plain wool-blend coat that will not date and will not fall apart. The checked double-breasted version is £90 and the brown marl collared one is £100. If you only buy one coat from this list, it is one of these. The chocolate and black ones go over everything; the check is the one you will be sick of by February if you are the kind of person who gets sick of things. Check the wool percentage before you buy. Some M&S wool-blend coats are around a third wool, which is fine for a lined coat but not a sheep's worth.

Padded and puffer coats

M&S splits its padded coats into two tiers and the names tell you which is which. Thermowarmth is the synthetic fill: the hooded padded coat is £65, the cord-collar short jacket £45, and they are warm, washable and about as glamorous as a bus shelter. Feather & Down is the real fill: the hooded longline coat in dark chocolate or mocha is £100 and the one to buy if you are cold rather than just coat shopping. The Feather and Down coat with a faux-fur collar at £120 is the best-looking padded coat in the range by a distance. Verdict on padding: pay for down if you walk anywhere in January, and do not pay extra for a hood you will not put up.

Trench coats, car coats and barn jackets for rain

The rest of the range is for weather rather than warmth. The trench is back as a proper coat this year: The Trench in light caramel is £95, there is a satin version in chocolate at £80 that reads as evening, and the Stormwear cotton one at £55 is the one that is actually waterproof. Car coats are the shorter, boxier cousin and M&S does a pure cotton one from £35 and a waxed tie-neck version at £90 that Grazia picked out in its M&S outerwear round-up this weekend. Barn jackets (cord collar, checked, hip-length) are the bit of the range that looks most like the catwalk. All of them are too thin for a cold snap on their own, so size up if you plan to wear a jumper underneath.

Short version: the tailored longline with wool at £70 is the best buy for most people, and the Feather & Down longline is the one if you are properly cold. The faux-fur trench is for staring at, unless you have somewhere to wear it. Stock and prices move fast at this end of October, so if a size and colour line up, do not sit on it.