Wrangler coat - warm, but pricey

What did I get? A Wrangler Blizzard coat
Where from? A competition win from Littlewoods

This is my biggest win of the year so far. In naive blogger style I am writing about it as the spring arrives and people aren't thinking about winter coats. I also think it's a discontinued line so no point waiting until next winter! Still, at least I am writing with 2 months of experience and not in the first flushes of excitement, which is pretty a good thing as you'll see.

The main point about the coat is that it's warm. Very, very warm. The snuggliest coat I've ever owned and I love that. I sank my chin right down on those snowy commutes or chilly night matches and at no point was I even close to being cold. It's (fake) wool lined in the hood and shoulders and quilted elsewhere.

It's also very waterproof. I get the impression that the waterproofness will last for years and not wear off like walking type jackets, it's not greasy either like wax jackets can sometimes feel.

Great point number 3 - loads of pockets. Decent buttoned waist pockets with hand pockets to the side of these. the hand pockets are lined with what's described as "smartphone cleaning lining" - a velvety affair. Well, my phone is in a case but it works a treat on my glasses. There's a decent sized pocket inside, a pen pocket where you'd expect that to be on the inside and 2 huge sized hidden pockets around the moob area that could be useful for tucking your hands into or carrying paperwork. There's even little buttons inside the sleeves and the only function I can think of for those is to attach your mittens when you go to the park with mummy.

The fur trim around the hood is detachable and this came off right away. that was a bit too trendy for me and as you can see from the pic it's a bit too in my face. The remainder of the hood sits OK on my head but I do find the wool clings to my hair so that when I turn the hood tends to come with me and needs adjusting once in a while.

And now the negative points, and some are quite serious when I get to the price. The first is about quality, and maybe I was unlucky ("unlucky he says - he got a free coat!") but the pocket stitching came apart in the first week with an audible ripping sounds. All I did was put my hands in my pockets, and they ain't big hands.

Secondly, the cursed zip. It sometimes takes me ages to get it zipped and it catches on the inside flap several times on the way up. Honestly, I have needed my wife to try and do it for me some days. This sounds daft but I can't begin to tell you how frustrating it is to have a zip that's so fussy, even though it is strong and tight when finally zipped up.

Final gripe - the design around the chin and neck. The arms and everything else is perfect so I don't believe it to be a sizing issue, but the chin part comes above the chin. This coat is made of VERY stiff material - I can stand it up on its own. Under my chin it rubs and I need to undo it (and the buttons) a bit, but then the zip works it's way down and before you know it you're open to the chest.

Overall, I do really like my coat. The pocket has been stitched and nowhere else looks to be a problem, I'm sure I'll get used to the collar and the zip and me will just have to learn to love each other. But the question of value....

The coat (so I was told by the very friendly and helpful marketing agent) retails (retailed) at £190. I would be very disappointed if I had paid that amount. I didn't, so I'm happy but this is meant to be an honest and objective blog after all. Looking at other outlets you can get this coat for £55 - £75, it's a fair deal at those prices.