Cape by Fidelity. Lulu Guinness Umbrella  (call 646-867-2342 to buy or buy from us on Shoptiques)

You might think my first posting would be about umbrellas, but its not.  I want to write a timely piece about winter capes, which most women sadly don’t own.

Last year women all over NYC and other places were wearing large, poncho, blanket-like capes.  I haven’t seen as many this year, which is kind of a shame.  Though I get it because in someways they weren’t practical once you got in doors.  If you got too hot you were suddenly like Linus stuck holding onto a big blanket.

Not knowing that capes were going to be less popular this year, I picked up for my boutique cropped wool cape-ponchos by Fidelity.  They’re made in America and I liked the crop aspect, particularly for petite women like myself for whom large capes and ponchos were almost a no go.

After owning my little red riding hood like cape for several weeks now both indoors at the shop and traveling, I have fallen in love even more with this kind of cape.

 Take away points about:  Cropped Wool Capes  that can be unbuttoned and worn like an open jacket or a poncho 

• They act as a nice, cute outerwear piece during the warmer fall weather.  Being cropped they’re a bit more figure flatting than larger ponchos.
• When Jack Frost comes around, Cropped Capes work well over your jacket or coat  as a wind breaking layer against cold winter winds. *
• Being able to be unbuttoned allows you to regulate heat when indoors
• Sweaters can sometimes to be too warm for indoors and a poncho cape provides the right amount of warmth.
• When you’re in extra cold places where they don’t seem to heat the indoors, like England, they make for a perfect 3^rd or 4^th layer over your thermal layer, your top, and or your sweater.
• Ponchos with buttons down the front but no buttons on the side to turn the poncho into a jacket are not as practical.
• Capes with hoods are generally preferred.  Hoods typically make the piece more stylish and certainly more practical.  Not everybody likes to carry a hat or ear coverings around.  Or sometimes we just forget to.  Plus many jackets and coats people wear (like pea-coats and leather jackets) don’t have a hood, so the cape may as well since it’s serving as a final layer of warmth.
• While the Fidelity Cropped Wool Cape doesn’t have pockets, pockets could be nice if they don’t add too much bulk

*Extra Tip: choose form fitting winter jackets withonly enough room for one sweater & a thin top. This will make you look more flattering than going around like the Michelin Man or somebody wearing a big puffy sleepingbag for a coat.  Then use a cape for extra warmth on exceptionally cold days or invest into terrific thermo micro layers. (Future blog posting on picking a jacket to come)