Number 2: A black coat - trench or longer

Unless your lady lives in the tropics, she’ll always need for a beautiful, high-quality black coat. This year the trench is stealing the spotlight on designer runways, but that classic style that can serve a long term of duty in her closet. You can’t go wrong with longer black coats, either, especially wool. If you’re not sure what size she wears, scavange in her closet to find a coat you’ve seen her wear and check the size.

We surfed around Net-a-Porter, the chic designer store online, and spotted several nice examples, such as a Calvin Klein black wool trench that extends to the knee for (gulp) $2,315; an Iisli cable knit trench for $538 (technically, this is navy, but it’s dark and looks so good we made an exception); a black jersey wrap coat dress for $398 by Diane von Furstenberg and a shorter but well-styled Helmut Lang blazer made of wool flannel for $550.

Clicking over to eLuxury.com, we caught sight of a Jean Paul Gaultier tulip coat, wool with a silk lining. Then we wandered into NeimanMarcus.com, and found plenty of examples of beautiful designer coats, like an Elie Tahari knee-length wool one; a St. John below-the-knee knockout with a removable fur collar; a more casual Burberry below the hips beauty; an amazing Loro Piana trench (it’s dark gray, but that’s OK). Where to go next? Saks.com, of course, where we found a trio of classy coats: an Armani Collezioni trench, an amazing knee-grazing Burberry trench of Italian cotton satin and a casual car-coat style wool and cashmere number by Marella.

Why didn’t we mentiom prices? Because if you have to ask, you probably shouldn’t click on those links. We shopped around Nordstrom.com, sniffing out less pricey coats, and came across a vast array that start at under $150. Look at all of them, or consider the long Kristen Blake for $248, a Kenneth Cole belted trench for $148 and an Anne Klein all-weather coat for $148.

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