BorderStyle: The September Issue(s) Vol. 5: Outerwear

From Khelan Bhatia. You can follow Khelan on Twitter @KhelanB. He lives in the U Street area and writes about style for Borderstan.

Hello, Borderstanis (he says with a sheepish grin). So the original plan was to get myself back on a weekly track with the September Issue(s) series, but much like Jil Sander’s Spring 2012 Menswear collection, it was full of good intentions, but a flawed execution. My bad.

Anyways, with the quasi-mea culpas out of the way, let’s get down to business. So, here we are with “The September Issue(s) Vol. 5: Outerwear” (Or “When the F*@K Does September End?”) As you probably recall, we started with shoes, worked our way to bottoms, then, quite obviously, tops and, in our last conversation, layers.

This being the fifth and final edition of my Fall recommendations, we’re going to go out with a bang. Well, as much as a bang outerwear can pack (though, if you do it correctly, it should make as much of a statement as the rest of your outfit. It needn’t just be a utilitarian effort to protect you from mother nature).

So speaking of mother nature, I found myself caught in the monsoon last Thursday on the way to meet some friends. Instead of being sensible and wearing a proper raincoat, I almost ruined a bespoke suit blazer in the torrential rainstorm. I kinda wish I had this number:

J.Crew Fairport Trench by khelan on polyvore.com. Being a sartorial traditionalist, I highly recommend everyone have a khaki trench coat. But a black one is a very chic alternative that goes with… well… everything, like this Fairport Trench from J.Crew (upper right pic, click here for the full spread).

Paul Smith Pea Coat by khelan featuring a cotton coat. The tricky thing about autumn is that the temperature can drop anytime, without any advance warning. And like Ned Stark said before he was physically unable to wear fedoras, “Winter is Coming.” (Yes, yes, I’m a nerd. Game of Thrones, anyone?)

So as the weather begins to become slightly unforgiving, what’s better than having a peacoat to shield you from the elements? And what’s better than this peacoat by Paul Smith…? Not very much, that’s what (upper left pic, click here for the full spread).

APC Duffle Coat by khelan featuring wool coats on polyvore. The only thing I love more than a peacoat is cropped jacket with toggles, like this whimsical, yet fashionable number from APC (at right, click here for the full spread).