Our ultimate women's parka

I like outerwear, I like the functionality of a piece, and I like fabrics with good performance. The parka crystallizes my tastes, and it is an outerwear that combines a few advantages:

• It's a very easy-to-wear piece, which can be worn over many outfits, from jeans to dresses, from skirts to pants, adding a nice touch of casualness,
• It is a piece that is comfortable in many situations: it can be worn in the city and on a weekend in the countryside or by the sea,
• It's a comforting piece, which protects from the wind and the cold, a piece in which you want to wrap yourself up at the end of the evening,
• It is a comfortable piece due to its cut: no tight and rigid shoulders for example, unlike some coats.

In short, it's the perfect blend of functionality, comfort, weather protection and style!

Because yes, with a parka, interesting contrasts are possible, notably by wearing it with a dressy outfit underneath, or completely assuming its military origins and with an outfit that goes in this direction.

Having the idea for a women's parka is good, but finding the right materials, the right cut, and the right shape is even better!

Once we have the idea in mind, a few questions arise:

• What fabric should you choose to combine style and practicality?
• How to make this parka warm and practical?

This is what we are going to see together today!

To dress this parka, we chose a fabric from Olmetex, a famous Italian weaver known for its fabrics covering trench coats, parkas and other “outerwear” of many high-end brands.

Its Italian DNA allows it to offer fabrics with real style and a beautiful drape, in addition to some technical properties.

You should know that the first parkas in history were made entirely of cotton. But I didn't want to stick to 100% cotton, because once it's wet, it takes time to dry!

So we went with a mix of cotton and nylon:

• Cotton for comfort, softness, and style. It's thanks to it that the fabric of this parka doesn't look like mountain clothing!
• Nylon to add durability and quick drying. If the fabric gets wet, it will dry much faster than 100% cotton.

(And for the record, a lot of modern military clothing is made from fabrics that mix cotton and nylon, for exactly the reasons stated above.)

This water-repellent and PFC-free fabric will protect you from wind and light showers while remaining breathable.

Now let's see what we did to make this parka warm...

We use synthetic insulation (we do not use goose down at BonneGueule) to keep you warm. We use two:

• for the body, we chose an insulator made in France from Libeltex, an insulator specialist for 50 years.
• For the sleeves, we use Climashield, an insulation that comes straight from the outdoor world, very well-known for its ability to keep its shape after multiple compression and decompression cycles, which is rather practical when you bend your arms.

In terms of thickness, we are at 78g/m2 on these two insulators, which seems to us to be a great compromise between lightness and warmth.

And finally, to create the ultimate touch of warmth, we added a sherpa lining, the famous fabric with a sheepskin effect.

Due to its structure which reproduces the wool of a sheep, it traps a lot of air, and therefore, heat... Because, I remind you, air is an excellent insulator.

And that's how you create a parka as cozy as your favorite blanket!

In concrete terms, you can wear this parka without any problem with a simple shirt, you won't be cold, thanks to this nylon-cotton/technical insulation/sheepskin fabric alloy.

Now let’s move on to the finishing touches of this parka…

You know what was the hardest thing to develop? The cut!

Although we have been developing outerwear for years, it took 4 prototypes to arrive at the final result, which is more than usual.

A lot of time has gone into refining a cut that is spacious enough to:

• be comfortable over a large knit for example
• honoring the military origins of the parka, with a straight cut...

… without having an ungainly silhouette. This balance of style and size gave me the impression of being on a ridge line but I am very happy with the result.

A modular collar

If there is ever a lot of wind and you want to be nice and warm, nothing could be simpler: just undo the two snaps, and raise the collar and you will have a generous collar that will protect you from the strongest gusts.

A drawstring at the waist

This is a finish straight from the first parkas. Originally, it was used to cinch the parka to increase warmth and reduce wind resistance, but today, it is mainly there to play with your silhouette, with a more or less straight finish.

A hood, adjustable, warm and comfortable

First of all: yes, this hood is removable, so you can take it off or keep it on depending on the weather or your desires.

But most importantly, it is fully lined in sherpa fabric, the same as the lining which makes the hood very warm, and it has nothing to do with a simple cotton hood of a basic parka.

It also has a faux fur that helps keep warm air in when you wear this hood on your back.

And here too, this fake fur is removable. MO-DU-LA-RI-TY we tell you!

Secure pockets

There you have it, now you know everything about this parka. It's our ultimate women's piece (for now at least), and we wanted to do things in a big way by offering you a parka that's warm, comfortable, stylish and practical:

• Italian cotton nylon outer fabric, for style, breathability and speed of drying, with a PFC free water repellent treatment to protect you from light showers
• warm and cozy sherpa fabric lining
• two technical insulators in this parka: Climashield in the sleeves and Libeltex for the body
• a windproof adjustable collar
• a removable hood, lined with sherpa fabric, and with removable faux fur to keep you warm

In short, we put all our passion for outerwear into this piece, and I hope that it will allow you, like our new men's parka, to have the best fall/winter of your life!