Hot and bothered: Lusting for a coat in too-toasty Los Angeles

SEPTEMBER IN L.A. is the cruelest month for a coat fiend like me. Temperatures laze in the 80s during the day, which makes buying a chic camel-hair swing coat about as daft as owning a beach towel in Anchorage. Nevermind the other East Coast sartorial staples -- fitted turtle necks and ribbed tights -- that taunt this N.Y. expat. Mostly, it's the coat I crave. Ten years in L.A. hasn't quelled my addiction to that jolt of static electricity that comes from friction with wool. Or the tickle of twill on my neck.

By Monica Corcoran

August 31, 2008