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This Puffer Jacket Is a 'Fashion Coat' That Actually Keeps You Warm


I recently went through my closet and moved all of my summer clothes to the very back, replacing them with heavier pieces for the cold weather ahead. As I was bringing out my jackets, I remembered something funny: A few years ago, during Fashion Week in February, I was waiting for a car with a fellow Glamour editor, out in the freezing cold, when she looked at me up and down and asked, “Is that coat actually warm, or is that a fashion coat?” The coat in question appeared to be thick and substantial—but she was questioning my warmth level because I was shivering, jumping up and down in an attempt at warmth. But she was onto something: It might have looked great, but my coat wasn’t actually doing its job. It was a “fashion coat.”

There comes a point every winter when it gets so cold style is thrown out the window—whether you’re in New York or in Canada, where I grew up. Everyone ends up relying on puffer jackets, which might not always feel chic but get the job done. I could never find one that checked off all the boxes for me: extreme warmth, polish, and style. I would reluctantly buy my outerwear from active brands, which were great, but made me feel like I was going skiing every time I put on a puffer jacket.

Fast-forward to yet another freezing winter morning—this time I was meeting my friend for breakfast, and she arrived wearing a bold, red puffer jacket from Aritzia’s TNA brand. Then, like my colleague had done to me, I asked her: “Are you even warm?” It was probably just a “fashion coat”—it looked way too good to be functional. But she made me try on her Super Puff…and I immediately took it back.

PHOTO: Courtesy of Aritzia

Soon enough I was a Super Puff evangelist. (I now own it in three colors.) The first time I wore it to the office, my coworkers immediately perked up—since we see each other so often, we pretty much know everyone else’s wardrobes, and new additions don’t often go unnoticed. I hadn’t even sat down before our accessories director started asking questions, assuming my puffer jacket was made by some expensive designer. I gave her the spiel—and not long after, she, the market director, and the accessories editor had all bought their own Super Puffs.

TNA’s signature Super Puff retails for $228. This year, the brand introduced a bunch of varieties on the style—mid- and long-length, vest, light, and extremely oversize—which widened the price range: They start at $88 for The Little Puff and go up to $298 for The Super Puff Long.

PHOTO: Courtesy of Aritzia

These puffer jackets are filled with responsibly sourced goose down and made with a water-repellent fabric and engineered to provide warmth down to minus-20°F. They’re the perfect marriage of function and design—from the oversize fit and removable hood to the monochromatic snap buttons, thick zipper, and my favorite: supersoft sleeves with a thumb hole. Plus, they now come in 15 matte colors, six metallic colors, and even a floral print, so there’s truly a style for everyone.

PHOTO: Courtesy of Aritzia

With the Super Puff, I no longer have to choose between what I want to wear and what I have to wear. It looks just as good during February Fashion Week as it does when I’m walking my dog in the snow—in other words: It’s definitely not just a “fashion coat.”

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Proof Collective’s Water-Repellent, Odor-Resistant Denim Jacket Might Be the Ultimate Fall Staple



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Proof Collective's Water-Repellent, Odor-Resistant Denim Jacket Might Be the Ultimate Fall Staple


I would consider a denim jacket to be a staple in anyone’s closet, yet I didn’t own one that I loved and consistently wore. And I happen to be a denim editor.

I attribute this to a number of things: I don’t wear a lot of denim (ironic, I know), I’m very picky when it comes to fit, and, in an ideal world, I need everything in my closet to be versatile enough for a variety of occasions. Plus, I tend to favor oversized, more masculine pieces, and the denim jackets available on the market for women don’t exactly cater to this—always too fitted or cropped for my liking.

If I ever felt the need for a denim jacket, I would reach for my husband’s black Levi’s trucker jacket. Even though I liked that it was too big for me, the proportions felt inherently off—it was cut differently, the shoulders and torso not aligning with my shape. I would push up the sleeves, turn up the cuffs, pull down the shoulders… But still. It wasn’t a viable solution. My husband and I also have a dog and love being active outdoors—translation: Fur, slobber, and dirt are pretty much always on our clothes.

PHOTO: Michelle Sulcov

Because this fabric is considered the workhorse of clothing, denim jackets and jeans should, theoretically be able to transition from an everyday wardrobe to an active one. In my experience, that hasn’t always been the case, though. A denim jacket can be a great as an add-on to an fitness outfit, to style up performance fabrics and tone down the overall active look—but getting a muddy paw print or soaking up in sweat usually means it goes straight into the wash.

So, when Proof Collective promised a trucker jacket made with water- and stain-repellent, odor-resistant technical fabric in the very silhouette I’d been hunting for—oversized, but cropped so it reads cool and effortless, while still being flattering—at an affordable price point? Well, I was intrigued.

Retailing at $195 (currently, it’s available for pre-order), Proof Collective’s signature jacket comes in light blue, dark blue, and faded black. And its fabric delivers on its promises: Water rolls off of the denim almost like a raincoat, and it dries quicker than a regular jacket; stains as heavy as oil or as sticky as wine can be rinsed off with water, or, if dried, removed in the wash. It’s also treated with an antimicrobial that protects against odor-causing bacteria. On top of all of that, the fabric is Bluesign-approved, meaning it’s certified environmentally-friendly and non-toxic.

I wore this jacket consistently for two weeks in the midst of summer in New York: to and from my workout classes (reluctantly putting it on while still dripping sweat); while walking my dog in sunny 90º weather (wiping the sweat from my brow with the sleeves); during one of those sporadic, torrential downpours (hesitantly sticking my arm out from under my umbrella, and watching in disbelief as the rain rolled right off); to the office and on the weekend. The jacket came out on the other side—without a hint of odor, sweat, or stain to show what it had been through.

PHOTO: Michelle Sulcov

More importantly to me, though, is that it proved to be the perfect hero item to bridge different gaps in my closet. My work wardrobe and weekend wardrobe are completely different—if I have any errands in the evening, I’ll always have to go home to change first—but this jacket is one of the only pieces I own that works for both work and leisure, morning and evening, without ever looking out of place.

After this summer—i.e. extreme weather—wear-test, I can foresee this jacket being a staple for me year-round. I love that I finally have a piece that has performance qualities while not looking like activewear and that I can wear in almost every situation without worrying about getting it wet or dirty. It might not seem like a huge deal but being as knowing the denim market is part of my job yet I myself didn’t have a tried and true jacket I could vouch for because of fit, color, style, or versatility, this discovery is an incredible addition to my wardrobe. The best part: I no longer have to share my clothes.



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Here's the Latest Explanation for Melania Trump's Infamous 'I Really Don't Care, Do U?' Jacket


Melania Trump is described as a “mysterious First Lady” weathering a chaotic White House in an in-depth New York Times profile published on Friday. The piece examines her role in the administration and references the “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?” jacket that created a lot of controversy during her visit to the border in June—which, according to a source in the story, she wore as a statement toward anyone “outside and inside the White House” critical of her decision to visit a shelter for migrant children.

If you remember, Trump was photographed stepping out of her car at the Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland before boarding a jet to the Texas Upbring New Hope Children’s Shelter. The images captured her green jacket, made by Zara, emblazoned with the words, “I really don’t care, do u?” Many instantly took issue with the First Lady’s choice of fashion, calling it tone-deaf and insensitive in the context of her visit to a children’s shelter during the family separation crisis.

Already, there have been myriad excuses made for the jacket: Donald Trump said his wife was addressing the news media, while Melania’s camp wrote in an email to White House pool reporters, “It’s a jacket. There was no hidden message.” This new explanation from the Times‘ anonymous source suggests that the jacket was a calculated move aimed at detractors who took issue with the First Lady visiting the children’s shelter—a move that would seem to conflict with her husband’s hard-line stances on immigration.

Per the article, “a person close to Mrs. Trump said the jacket was actually directed at anyone—both outside and inside the White House—who wanted to criticize her decision to visit the children in light of the administration’s aggressive immigration policies.”

Despite the reframing of the situation, the East Wing insisted to the New York Times that the jacket “had no underlying message.”

“No one tells the first lady what to do,” Trump’s communications director Stephanie Grisham says in the piece. “Our office has nothing to do with what clothing choices she makes, and this situation was no different.”

Melania has made headlines for occasionally seeming to contradict the President—most recently, she released a statement applauding basketball player Lebron James’ charitable work after her husband bashed him on Twitter. However, many people have accused her of being disengaged, since she rarely appears in public. She’s also faced backlash for her frequent silence amid the administration’s more controversial moments and for her “Be Best” campaign against cyberbullying, which has been called ironic, given the President’s tendency to lambast people online. (It’s also had some trouble taking off).

That’s about it on the jacket front, but the Times‘ profile makes for a good read—click on over to it here.

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Brands Respond to Melania Trump’s Jacket With ‘I Really Care’ Clothing



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How Melania Trump’s Jacket Inadvertently Raised Money For Democrats


Trends come and go, but in politics, fund-raising off an opponent’s snafu never goes out of style.

Critics pounced last week when First Lady Melania Trump set off for Texas in a military-inspired $39 Zara jacket with “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?” boldly printed on the back. Observers called her choice of dress for the trip—a visit with migrant kids separated from their parents at the border—everything from confusing to tone-deaf or worse.

As Trump detractors saw red, the Democratic National Committee saw a chance to make some green.

Within hours of Thursday’s dustup, the party’s online store was hawking T-shirts with a clapback aimed squarely at FLOTUS: “We Care, We Vote. Do U?” A few days later the olive-drab tees—priced at $20.18 in a nod to this year’s midterm elections—had become “by far” the best-selling DNC store item of all time, a party official told Glamour.

As of Sunday afternoon, the DNC says, visits to its online store had spiked by 2,000 percent, overall sales were up 7,700 percent, and the party had moved around 2,800 “We Care” shirts—or about $56,000 in sales. By Monday morning that was up to 3,200 shirts and more than $65,000.

The promo for the shirt is itself a jab at Team FLOTUS for insisting the jacket was, in fact, just a jacket. “When it comes to the words we put on our clothes, there is ‘no hidden message,’ We like to keep it pretty straightforward,” says the DNC site, adding that the tee is “printed on 100% preshrunk cotton—right here in the USA.”

While a spokeswoman for the First Lady said her attire wasn’t telegraphing any kind of message, the people snapping up the T-shirts want to do exactly that, according to DNC women’s media director Elizabeth Renda: The tees “are selling quickly because voters are disgusted with Trump’s shameful immigration policy and this White House’s blatant disregard for the children who they are using as bargaining chips,” she told Glamour in an email exchange.

The FLOTUS team also tried to tamp down the jacket hubbub by saying the press would do better to focus on the time she spent with kids in Texas than what she wore to get there. The President himself, however, further stirred the pot by tweeting that the message on his wife’s back was meant to show her lack of regard for the “fake news media.”

Asked about the DNC’s latest marketing move, Stephanie Grisham, communications director for Mrs. Trump, who on Sunday made a surprise address at a student leadership conference, told Glamour she’s “glad the First Lady has stirred up conversation through fashion, because she certainly cares about helping people.”

Grisham added via email that “while they are obviously doing this to portray her in a negative light, I hope any money the DNC is making from this will be donated to a good cause.”

The national uproar over the separating of immigrant families at the border, of course, started well before the recent tizzy over FLOTUS’ flight gear. Fueling the public and political furor: Reports describing anguished children crying for their parents and being held en masse in cages of chain-link fencing.

A CBS News poll released Sunday found 53 percent of American adults strongly opposed to breaking up parents and children trying to enter the U.S. illegally. Only 11 percent strongly favored the separations.

The poll underscores why the DNC would want to capitalize on anything that could peg the Trump Administration and its allies as callous on immigration as the GOP fights to keep control of Congress. While just over half of those polled for CBS said the family separation controversy was not changing their views on voting, 28 percent said it makes them more likely to consider backing a Democrat in November, outstripping the 19 percent who said they’d be likelier to look at a Republican.

Melania Trump—an immigrant herself—first publicly expressed dismay about the separations in a carefully worded statement on June 17. On June 20 her husband signed an executive order to keep border families together. The next day FLOTUS was off to Texas.

She was only glimpsed in the now-notorious green jacket, but that was all it took for the former model to inspire a new kind of statement piece: Brands stampeded to roll out items with a “Yes, we care” counter-message, pledging the proceeds to pro-immigrant organizations.

By Saturday Portland, Oregon–based clothier Wildfang said sales of its new “I Really Care” line had brought in more than $200,000 to benefit the migrant legal services nonprofit RAICES Texas, pointedly tweeting, “Despite what Melania thinks, people really do care.”

That sum easily blows past what the DNC has so far raised from its FLOTUS-themed tees—and is itself totally eclipsed by the more than $20 million raised for RAICES in a California couple’s viral Facebook campaign.

While those campaigns directly benefit advocacy groups, the DNC, of course, is using its profits “to elect Democrats up and down the ticket in 2018,” Renda said—or in other words, to topple members of the party of Trump, weakening the president ahead of his 2020 reelection run.

Democrats won’t be going it alone financially this fall: Billionaire Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of Trump’s hometown of New York, has vowed to spend $80 million or more of his own money to help flip control of the House.

Still, going strictly by the latest bottom lines, the Democrats may not be pooh-poohing even a small, unexpected windfall: The DNC raised $5.6 million in May, ending up with $8.7 million in cash on hand—and still, as The Washington Post noted, $5.7 million in debt. Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee raised more than $14 million in May and reported $47.4 million in the bank with zero debt.

Cassie Smedile, national press secretary for the RNC, responded to a Glamour question about the DNC’s new item with an implied hat tip to the hundreds of thousands of “Make America Great Again” Trump caps sold to date: “It’s telling that the Democrat Party’s best-selling product is about bashing the First Lady, while ours is about people’s hopes that America succeeds now and in the future,” she said.





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When You're the First Lady, a Jacket Isn't Ever 'Just a Jacket'


For a First Lady known for wearing primarily high-end designer clothing, [Melania Trump]’s(/about/melania-trump) stepping out wearing fast fashion caught people’s attention at first; what was startling about the now infamous $39 Zara jacket was the message written across the back: “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?” it read, clearly, as she boarded and disembarked a Texas-bound plane last week on a visit to children separated from their families at the U.S. border, a direct result of the policies of her husband’s administration. It made for a shocking image.

The reaction to it was swift and strong, ranging from angry to supportive to just downright confused. Stephanie Grisham, the First Lady’s communications director, issued an official response insisting that it was “just a jacket”; President Trump, meanwhile, tweeted that “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?” was a message for the “Fake News Media.” So, which one was it?

PHOTO: MANDEL NGAN

First Lady Melania Trump arriving back at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland after her unannounced visit to a shelter in Texas housing children separated from their parents at the U.S. border.

When you’re the First Lady—of any country, but particularly of the U.S.—your clothing becomes more than just something you wear. It takes on a deeper meaning, becoming a reflection not only of your personality but also of the administration’s platforms, causes, and policies. Because of that, many in that position have spent a huge amount of time planning each and every appearance: Laura Bush famously joked in her 2010 memoir that she was entirely unprepared for the amount of designer clothing she was expected to wear as First Lady; Michelle Obama collaborated with two stylists while residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue; Trump has been known to work with designer Hervé Pierre to select—and in some cases create—outfits.

The notion that any modern first lady would just go into her closet and pull out a jacket, any jacket, at the last minute to catch a flight—as Grisham insisted of Trump’s military-inspired Zara style—feels unlikely.

“I can only imagine that people advised her against it, but there was no way that this went unnoticed,” Corey Roche, a personal stylist and fashion expert whose clients include politicians in Washington, D.C., says to Glamour.

US-POLITICS-IMMIGRATION-MIGRANTS-MELANIA

PHOTO: MANDEL NGAN

First Lady Melania Trump during her visit to Luthern Social Services of the South’s Upbring New Hope Children Center in McAllen, Texas.

Many have pointed to a handful of hints that would contradict the statement , including Trump’s demonstrated penchant for luxury European designers (which makes one wonder how a seasons-old fast-fashion item would end up in the mix) and the criticism she received in September of last year for the “storm heels” she wore to board a plane headed to areas affected by Hurricane Harvey in Texas.

It’s not the first time a First Lady’s fashion choices have ignited a debate among constituents. Mary Todd Lincoln was criticized for wearing expensive gowns in the midst of the Civil War; Nancy Reagan was disparaged for borrowing garments for borrowing garments, receiving warnings from White House lawyers that this had to be disclosed under the Ethics in Government Act; both Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton were called out at various points for wearing designer clothing while speaking about income inequality and poverty.

There’s a reason why a first lady’s wardrobe is considered news-worthy. “Just as we pay attention to what politicians say on Twitter, or in a video, we pay attention to what they wear because it says something about them,” says Amy Carleton, Ph.D., a lecturer of comparative media studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says.

First Lady Melania Trump Visits Immigrant Detention Center On U.S. Border

PHOTO: Chip Somodevilla

First Lady Melania Trump boarding a Texas-bound plane wearing the Zara jacket.

Still, according to some, this incident stands out from a legacy of first lady fashion moments. “This wasn’t a gaffe—it was a strong political statement,” Beth Dincuff Charleston, a professor of fashion history at Parsons School of Design, tells us. “I can’t even think of something historically that is similar. This is just unheard of.”

“Of course, a jacket is not just a jacket when you’re first lady,” Charleston explains. “Everything Melania wears is very calculated, it’s a form of communication, and it’s meant to say something.”

Jessica Morgan, one of the fashion critics behind Go Fug Yourself, notes how “public figures choose what they wear very carefully because they know they’re going to be scrutinized. When you choose to wear an item of clothing with a message on it, you need to accept that people will assume that’s a message you’re attempting to convey. It’s literally written on your body.”

The response to Melania’s jacket has been layered: Some focused on the message written on it and what it could say about her opinion on her husband’s administration or a variety of issues the American public is facing; others dwelled on the optics of her wearing it on the day she was to meet with children who were torn from their families at the border. And, as with many controversial moments that play out in public, a counter-criticism of Trump’s jacket emerged—that the public discussion about it is a distraction from the more pressing issue of immigration and the separation of families at the border, and that focusing on it won’t solve anything.

US-IMMIGRATION-MIGRANTS-PROTEST-politics

PHOTO: ERIC BARADAT

A woman outside of the White House protesting families being separated at the U.S. border, holding a sign inspired by the First Lady’s jacket.

“I Really Don’t Care, Do U?” was written across the First Lady’s back—clearly, legibly, and easily photographed. And the public still, for the most part, is trying to understand why Trump would wear that particular jacket, on that particular day, for that particular visit. She herself didn’t comment on it during her unannounced visit to the U.S. border. But the thing with graphic clothing is that it speaks for itself. And in this particular case, it only raises more questions.

The experts have varying opinions on what Trump could have meant by it.

“I think it was a straw poll from the administration, asking Trump supporters if they care [about what is happening at the border],” Charleston believes. “It was almost too inflammatory of a message for Trump to tweet, so they came up with this.”

Roche has a different take: “The public has seen [Trump] not staying in the White House [in the early months of the administration], slapping her husband’s hand away, but they haven’t really heard much from her. I think this is just another way of her saying she wants to do her own thing. That she has no interest in playing the typical role.”

Carleton offers a more blunt interpretation: “I’m someone who teaches rhetoric and communication and the importance of precision—there’s no other way to say it, but I really see it as a big ‘F U’ to everybody. I just don’t buy any other explanation.”

US-POLITICS-IMMIGRATION-MIGRANTS-MELANIA-JACKET

PHOTO: MANDEL NGAN

First Lady Melania Trump, wearing the Zara jacket.

“Clothing has meaning. What you choose to wear is an expression of yourself,” says Morgan. “Just as you wouldn’t wear cutoff jean shorts to an important job interview, because you wish presumably to be taken seriously, nor should you, in my opinion, wear a jacket that literally says, ‘I don’t really care,’ to meet with children you purport to care about. It’s not shallow or strange for people to be attempting to parse what this means, or why she would decide to wear this.”

“This is an argument that she is making,” Carleton adds. “Just as we should pay attention to other messages from this administration, we should pay attention to this.”

Trump’s Zara jacket was so decidedly not “just a jacket” that many believe it will end up in the history books.

“This is going to be a watershed moment, as far as Melania goes,” Charleston argues. “It’s really a statement similar to Donald Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ hats, and I think these two political fashion statements will end up being compared historically. This is going to be remembered.”





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Brands Respond to Melania Trump's Jacket With 'I Really Care' Clothing


To travel to Texas for an unannounced visit to a Texas shelter housing children separated from their parents at the U.S. border on Thursday, First Lady Melania Trump wore a Zara jacket with an eye-catching message written across the back: “I Really Don’t Dare, Do U?,” it read. Many were disturbed by the optics of the situation, and the style—which FLOTUS wore to both board and disembark her plane at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland yesterday—has ignited a fierce debate online. It has also inspired a handful of fashion brands to take action and release their own versions of the olive-green jacket to benefit the communities affected by the ongoing border crisis.

Overnight, Portland-based brand Wildfang released a limited capsule collection titled “I REALLY CARE,” with 100% of proceeds going to RAICES Texas, which offers legal services and resources to immigrants.

The product description reads: “Hey Melania. WE REALLY DO CARE! That’s why we made this jacket. To say we stand with immigrants. To say WE CARE.” An original launch sold out within an hour, according to the brand, but has since been restocked.

“Within a few hours, we decided as a team we wanted to do something,” Emma Mcilroy, CEO of Wildfang, tells Glamour via e-mail. “This could not go unnoticed, so we put our heads together and went with impact.”

“We started with a limited edition run and it sold out, twice,” she continues. “Because we now make the majority of our products, we are able to turn things around like this so when we’re passionate about something, we take control of the situation. Our customers have gone bananas over this—the support is overwhelming, and we couldn’t be more proud to align with them in support of these families.”

PSA (or Public Service Apparel), the brand co-run by Upworthy and GOOD, also launched its own take on the graphic, as part of its Rapid Response/Limited Edition line. The “I Really Do Care” T-shirt is currently available for pre-order, and will benefit the immigrant youth network United We Dream.

Lingua Franca, the ethical luxury knitwear label that has become known for its politically–aligned pieces, made its own hand-stitched sweater. It’ll donate $100 of each sale to a charity of the customer’s choice.

Stephanie Grisham, FLOTUS’ Communications Director, said of Trump’s much-discussed Texas wardrobe: “It’s a jacket. There was no hidden message. After today’s important visit to Texas, I hope the media isn’t going to choose to focus on her wardrobe.”

President Donald Trump later tweeted about the incident, seemingly contradicting the spokesperson’s claim that there was no meaning behind the jacket.

He wrote: ““I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?” written on the back of Melania’s jacket, refers to the Fake News Media. Melania has learned how dishonest they are, and she truly no longer cares!”

As to what they hope to achieve with these reactionary capsule collections, McIlroy explains: “We hope to see kids reunited with their parents, that is the goal here. We want to spread awareness, we want people to take action we want you to give all your money to RAICES—they do amazing work!”

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Twitter Has Strong Feelings About TIME’s Powerful ‘Welcome to America’ Cover Amid Border Crisis





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