Coates Check, With Tyler Coates

by Tyler Coates

1. Gap denim Jacket, $50

I bought this jacket from the Gap during my junior year of college, so it would have been Fall 2003. It’s still my “college jacket” because of the buttons — one was for WXJM, the student-run radio station where I had a show with my friend Nicole (and a solo show called “Put On Your Coates” on Thursday mornings between 2 and 5 a.m.); another was from a student shop at Savannah College of Arts and Design (I went to Savannah and Charleston for Spring Break that year, as I was a really cool Southern lady). I also had a Cat Power button but it fell off, and I replaced it with an Eternal Summers pin, a recent band that a college friend is in. Also, I was so proud of that jacket that my first Gay.com screenname was “denimjacket” (I’m less proud of the name than I was of the jacket).

2. London Fog khaki jacket, $5

I probably bought this from Goodwill or Gift & Thrift sometime during my senior year. I saw Quadrophenia sometime in the year after graduation, and decided, suddenly, that I wanted to be “mod,” so I decided that this was the moddest piece of clothing I had. I put a pin of the Royal Air Force logo and a silhouette of some mod-looking girl on it. I don’t think I ever looked really mod. (Also, can’t wait for the next post, COATES BUTTONS, in which I realize how much money I’ve wasted on that shit.

3. H&M black jacket, $40

I think I kept a hold of this because it was the first jacket I bought in Chicago. I’ve had it for at least six years now and wear it all the fucking time.

4. North Face winter coat, $200

In the winter of 2008, I finally had a really good job that paid me (hang on to your hats) $38,000 a year. That was so much money. And it was really cold that year, so I broke down and bought a real winter coat. I purposefully picked the one that looks the least like a North Face jacket.

5. Obey Propaganda windbreaker, $105

I had nine mimosas at brunch and decided to go shopping at Untitled in Chicago’s Wicker Park because everything is hilariously expensive and stupid looking. Then I saw this coat and was tipsy enough to spend the money on it. It looks really good, which is why I got over the buyer’s remorse. It also helped that I’d make my friends agree that I “looked like a hundred bucks.” (About three months later I figured out that this is from Shepard Fairy’s label, which I concede is lame as hell.)

6. Gap wool blazer, $85

This was a birthday present from my mom, and it doesn’t really count as a coat. But, when I first moved to New York in the fall of 2010, I wore this (and a hoodie) as my winter coat through Christmas. Once I went on a date and the guy complimented it, and then asked, “Is it warm?” I replied, “No!”

7. Uniqlo jacket, $70

This is my new favorite jacket; I bought it about a month and a half ago. It’s not real leather, OBVIOUSLY (although not because I’m against wearing leather). I like it because, as you can see from the picture, the arms are ridiculously long, and I’m pretty sure that it’s the only jacket I own in which the sleeves extend to my wrists. So seventy bucks for comfortably covered arms? It’s a deal, my friends.

Tyler Coates is an editor at BlackBook magazine. He lives in Brooklyn, if you couldn’t tell from his jackets.

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