M&S Men's Coats: Overcoat, Mac or Puffer, and What to Pay

M&S put on its first ever catwalk show at London Fashion Week in September, to mark 100 years of M&S fashion, and menswear was in it. A few of the coats from that collection now hang next to the regular range, which makes the choice longer and harder to read. So here it is sorted into the three shapes M&S actually does for men: the overcoat, the mac and the puffer. On so-me that's about two dozen coats, most of them between £65 and £120. Prices are what we saw on 28 October and they'll move.

Search M&S men's outerwear and you mostly get blazers, harringtons and bombers. They're jackets, so they're left out here.

M&S overcoats

The smallest section of the three, and the one I'd look at first if you wear a suit or smart trousers to work. The Revere Overcoat is £90 in charcoal, navy and a pale neutral: three buttons, a wide revere collar, patch pockets, lined. M&S describes the fabric as smooth with added stretch and doesn't mention wool, so read it as a sharp commuting coat rather than something for the coldest week of January. The Funnel Neck Overcoat, also £90 and in navy, swaps the lapels for a stand collar, which keeps your neck warm without a scarf.

The one with some personality is the Wool Blend Houndstooth Long Coat at £120. Brown houndstooth, long and tailored, with buttoned straps on the cuffs. Pattern on a coat scares people more than it should. A plain navy one goes with everything, and nobody remembers it.

M&S macs, trench coats and the car coat

This is where M&S is strongest, and it's the shape I'd buy if you only get one. The Pure Cotton Mac in navy and The Trench in black are £95 each and share a spec: breathable cotton, a water-repellent finish, mock-horn buttons and a checked lining taken from the M&S archive, which you show off by turning the collar up. The Pure Cotton Double Breasted Trench Coat is £80 in a colour M&S calls Rich Quartz, belted, with epaulettes and a storm vent. The Car Coat Mac at £80 is the shorter, plainer version, cotton-rich and lined, in beige.

Two more if you want something less classic. The Pure Cotton Wax Mac is £120, made from waxed cotton from the British Millerain mill, with a corduroy collar and a check lining from the archive; it's part of the centenary collection, and the one I'd pick out of the whole range. The Technical Funnel Neck Mac at £99 is for people who'd rather have a hood: stretchy, lightly padded, with M&S's Stormwear finish. That's rated for light showers, so a mac won't get you through a downpour.

M&S puffer jackets and parkas

For warmth, this is the section to read. M&S does two kinds of padding. Feather and Down is the real fill: the Packaway Puffer is £65 in seven colours on so-me, and the Hooded Puffer is £70. Thermowarmth is M&S's synthetic padding. It turns up in the crinkle Funnel Neck Puffer at £75 (M&S says this one was first seen on the Fashion Week catwalk), the Quilted Puffer in butterscotch at £85 and the Water Repellent Parka at £120, in black or navy.

The parka costs the most, but M&S calls it lightly padded, so I'd expect the £65 down jacket to be warmer. Also worth a look: the Wool Blend Check Puffer, £85, with a funnel neck and a hood that comes off. It's another centenary piece, and the only puffer here you wouldn't mistake for someone else's on the bus.

M&S men's coats by colour

Navy is where M&S has the most choice: the mac, the parka, the down puffer and the funnel-neck overcoat all come in it. Black is the safe one. Brown and beige is the smallest group and the most interesting, because that's where the houndstooth, the check puffer and the car coat are.

M&S men's coats under £80

Every down puffer comes in under £80, and the double-breasted trench and the car coat sit right on it. If you need a coat by next week, start here.

If you want one coat for most of the year, buy the mac. Get the down puffer if you feel the cold, and the houndstooth if you're bored of navy. Sizes in the popular colours go first once the weather turns, so if yours is there, don't wait.