First impression: Coats are important fashion statement this fall

? An overcoat is hardly an afterthought this fall.

A great coat is the season’s must-have item, and, for once, it’s an “it” item that fits most people and into most people’s budgets.

“It’s a good coat season,” says Charles Nolan, senior vice president of design for Anne Klein, which isn’t all that surprising considering shoppers’ emotional state a year after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and minutes after the latest bad economic news. “(A coat) wraps you up. It takes care of you.”

Cozy outerwear complements the heavy sweaters and long scarves that are among other popular items for fall.

“The No. 1 thing on your list and you probably don’t have one in your closet is the shearling jacket,” says Joseph Denofrio, senior vice president of fashion for Macy’s East. A shopper can spend a lot of money on the soft suede-wool combination coat, or, thanks to microfiber, faux suede and new manufacturing techniques, a shopper can look great for $79, he says.

“Shades of natural and brown reinforces suede jackets and they reinvigorate wool because before you only had a black coat. … A generation ago you had a camel wool coat, but this introduces camel to a whole new audience,” Denofrio says.

Until now, Denofrio says the list of coats one needed for the fall and winter was a short one: a long wool coat, a sporty ski parka and a hip leather jacket.

The list just got longer.

Among Anne Klein’s top offerings are a butter leather blazer, a black and steel blue fireman-inspired hip-length coat with toggle closures, and a long princess coat with outward seams.

Denofrio says a casual-but-not-quite-a-ski-parka jacket, such as a wool parka or a stadium coat, is another must. “People are going to be filling in the ‘in-between,’ what goes between the bubble jackets and to-the-ankle wool coats,” he says.

According to Nolan, coats are among the most responsible purchases because the same coat often can be paired with both jeans or a chiffon skirt. The designer also notes that coats are flattering and forgiving to different figures.

Coats also are manufactured for heavy use, not like a blouse that might make its way into the wardrobe rotation once or twice a month.

But while one coat will last the season and beyond, who wants to be limited when there are so many great styles out there?

“I want you to want another coat,” Nolan says. “I don’t want you to wear the same coat every day so that by March you’re so sick of that same coat.”

Then there are the indoor-outdoor coats, such as double-faced twill blazer, that can be worn as part of an outfit during the winter in New York or Chicago, but would be considered outerwear in Roanoke, Va., says Nolan.

Other updated coat fabrics are tweeds, which are useful because they can be worn with so many colors, and gabardine, which is more luxurious now than previous versions.