Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I was headed to NYC the week after Christmas and knew it was supposed to be one of the coldest stretches ever (15 degrees + windchill) so I ordered this coat to keep me warm since we were going to be doing a lot of walking outside. It was delivered exactly when promised so I had it in time for our trip. The coat fit great (I'm 5'5" and weigh 124 and size medium fit perfectly - with a shirt & sweater underneath). It was nice and long too (reached the top of my legs) so it kept me really warm. It was really comfortable and never felt or looked bulky or cumbersome. The zipper goes up nice and high so my neck was warm (although I did wear a scarf so that helped too)! The hood was great -- just wish there was a button or snap that connected the two sides of the hood under the neck to keep it more securely in place in the wind. I did have a ribbed hat on underneath because of the extreme cold and the hood stayed up fine even over that. The one problem I had with this coat (and it was a big one) was the zipper (but make sure you read this review until the end regarding this problem.) I had the most difficult time zipping it up and constantly needed help in getting it zipped. The two zipper pieces at the bottom of the coat that need to click into place in order to zip wouldn't easily click - maybe because it was a cheap plastic zipper or maybe because it was defective, I don't know. I felt like a 4-year old needing an adult's help to zip it up. It was really frustrating to be leaving our hotel or a restaurant and not be able to zip up my own coat. Even my husband and kids had trouble making it work. After 7 or 8 tries we'd eventually get it work, but I was really bummed that this coat that I absolutely LOVED would have to be returned because I couldn't zip it up without help! I liked the coat so much that I almost was willing to put up with the bad zipper, but I just couldn't justify keeping a brand new coat that was already "broken." When I returned home, I sadly went on Amazon and put in a return request and explained what the problem was with that awful zipper. However, since returns (and even shipping) are free, I decided to order another coat in the hopes that maybe I just got a lemon. Well, much to my delight, the replacement coat now had a metal zipper that worked totally fine! Absolutely no trouble whatsoever zipping it up or down so now the coat is perfect. So happy I re-odered it and so happy they replaced the zipper with a metal one (and did not increase the price). I highly recommend this coat, but just make sure the coat you order has that metal zipper! Hopefully this is now the case on all the coats, but just giving you a heads-up about my experience. Also, my second coat did have a little bit of an odd smell when I first received it, but it is definitely disappearing as time goes on.