The Perfect Coat [With 2023 Links to Similar Ones You Can Buy]

After 5 years, I finally got my hands on the perfect coat: the Eidos Napoli “Chiaia” coat in fog gray herringbone. Unfortunately it only ran for one season, and it’s very difficult to get ahold of. But read on for ideas of other coats that might similarly fill the gap, because I’ve been trying to find workable alternatives ever since, so I’ve got some ideas.

First, a little backstory.

I’ve been trying to get ahold of this coat since the day I first bought it. Wait, what? You read that right. I actually bought this coat already back in 2016. It was part of the fall/winter 2015 collection, and once I saw photos of it I became convinced I needed it.

Lucky for me, one of my favorite menswear shops, AK Rikks up in Michigan, was carrying it. I had a sales guy on a texting relationship and he sent me photos of the coat in my size. It was  on deep discount by the time we were in contact, somewhere around 60% off.

However, in the process of buying the coat, I made one fateful mistake that threw the whole thing into chaos.

Check out the video below to find out what that hilarious and maddening mistake was, then after watching, come back here for a few ideas for similar coats. As I mentioned, I’ve been trying to buy functional alternatives to the Chiaia for years, so I’ve come across a few. And while none of them can match the Chiaia’s specific combination of awesomeness, a few of them reach high on their own merits.

 

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(There is a follow-up in my Instagram stories, now featured and saved on my profile underneath my bio, answering a few follow-up questions you might have, such as “what was the No Man Walks Alone pre-order that caused you to be too broke to buy it again the second time?”)

The Best Alternatives I’ve Found

The Chiaia is roughly based on a balmacaan coat, a style defined generally by a couple things: a raglan sleeve shoulder, and a loose, oversized silhouette.

The key differences of the Chiaia, however, are the straighter, more fitted silhouette, and the applied hip pockets (as opposed to hand warmer pockets). It also has a hidden waist cinch that allows you to add some additional shape if you want.

Another thing that makes this particular variation of the coat great is the fabric color and pattern: large-scale gray herringbone with donegal flecks. It’s an ideal pattern and color that can be dressed up or down. It’s resemblance to tweed puts it right at home with denim, flannel, chunky sweaters and boots. But gray is an urbane color that’s at home with more refined clothing; so it looks good with tailoring, too.

So the list of characteristics to look for:

1. A coat with a collar instead of lapels, single-breasted
2. A raglan-sleeve coat, ideally, though it’s not a dealbreaker if not
3. A gray, textured fabric such as herringbone and/or donegal (lighter gray is my preference but a darker gray would work too)
4. At least a 3/4 length, though preferably longer (i.e. longer than a peacoat)

It’s pretty easy to find balmacaans, so I’ll link some of the ones I find all together. Then the other styles I’ll put in their own list.

The Balmacaans [links updated 2023]

1- Todd Snyder [this is the closest one to mine I’ve found this season]

2- Wythe black/cream herringbone balmacaan (with applied patch pockets)

3- Permanent Style Raglan coat in large grey herringbone [Also available from Private White VC, which is the maker he’s partnered with in designing this coat]

4- J.Crew Irish wool gray herringbone balmacaan

5- Here’s a saved search for “balmacaan” with gray as the color selected on eBay. You could go the vintage route and find something cool for cheap if you like the classic style.

6- Drake’s herringbone raglan (with applied patch pockets)

7- Berg & Berg Nelson herringbone raglan coat (with applied patch pockets)

7- Banana Republic [brown, not gray, but a similar vibe]

8- Suitsupply belted raglan coat

9- No Man Walks Alone [houndstooth, not herringbone, but overall a similar vibe]

The Other Options

1- (UPDATED 2022) Kaptain Sunshine Traveler Coat in dove gray melton (No Man Walks Alone sells this most winters for the last few years as I wrote about here; you never know what fabrics it’ll be in so something in gray isn’t guaranteed, but the cut and silhouette is beloved, for good reason)

2- [ADDED 2022] Drake’s Navy Raglan Coat. Also available in charcoal herringbone. Also in brown donegal herringbone.

I wrote about this piece on my blog, after having seen it in person at Pitti January 2020 and loving it immediately. This season it’s in navy only so far, which is still a super versatile color.

3- Todd Snyder x Private White V.C. Collaboration coat (this is pretty unique and cool)

4- Todd Snyder pressed donegal overcoat (this has a similar design in the front to the Drake’s coat above, but with a normal single pleat in the back instead of the deep loden-coat pleat)

5- Billy Reid Astor (I owned a version of this coat, pictured here at Pitti winter 2020, in a gray donegal wool; it was made in herringbone, too, which is the version I wanted but is tough to track down)

6- ProperCloth Crosby belted coat [UPDATE 2022 still available in gray herringbone!]

I’ll continue adding more coats as this fall/winter season carries on and we see what becomes available. If there is a coat from a particular maker you know about, let me know in the comments below!

(Help support this site! If you buy stuff through my links, your clicks and purchases earn me a commission from many of the retailers I feature, and it helps me sustain this site—as well as my menswear habit ;-)  Thanks!)

Shop my clothing from this post and every other post on the Shop My Closet page. If you’re just getting into tailored menswear and want a single helpful guide to building a trend-proof wardrobe, buy my eBook. It covers wardrobe essentials for any guy who wants to look cool, feel cool and make a good impression. Formatted for your phone or computer/iPad so it’s not annoying to read, and it’s full of pretty pictures, not just boring prose. Buy it here.

[This post was originally published on Aug 21, 2021]