The North Face Coat for Women: Nuptse Puffers, Parkas and Fleece That Earn Their Place

The North Face Coat for Women: Nuptse Puffers, Parkas and Fleece That Earn Their Place

A North Face coat for women comes mainly as Nuptse jackets and puffers, longer parkas, or fleece, rain and lightweight shells. I sorted them by type so you can find the weight you need.

The North Face says it has equipped explorers since 1966, and that the name refers to the most challenging side of a mountain. NPR reports that Douglas Tompkins opened it as a skiing and backpacking shop in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood that same year. I like starting there, because it explains why a brand born in a climbing shop now sits in so many city closets. When women ask me for a North Face coat, they are almost always picturing one shape, so let me start with it. Whether you search for a North Face coat or a North Face jacket, it almost always means a Nuptse.

 

That shape is the Nuptse. Outside magazine reports it was originally released in 1992 and named after a peak in the Himalayas, and the brand's own page says its warmth was pioneered that year. The 1996 Retro Nuptse Jacket in Dark Chestnut is the one I would look at first, along with the 1996 Retro Nuptse quilted jacket. Both have that wide, horizontal baffle look that reads as sporty even over a slip dress. If you like the idea but want it shorter, the Nuptse short jacket and the Nuptse Cropped Jacket stop at the waist or just below, so they sit nicely over high-rise jeans without bunching. The Nuptse puffer jacket is the plain version of the same idea.

 

Then there are the Hydrenalite pieces: the Hydrenalite Down Hoodie in White Dune, a second Hydrenalite Down Hoodie, the Hydrenalite puffer jacket, the Hydrenalite Down Jacket and the Hydrenalite hooded down jacket. A white or light puffer is the one I would pick if every other coat you own is black. For something a little different, the Saikuru padded jacket, the Hmlyn hooded puffer jacket, the Pertex Explore Puffer Jacket, the Red Box high-neck down jacket, the Suzanne Triclimate 2.0 Down Jacket and the Thermoball Quilted Jacket each have their own collar, hood or lining story.

 

My fitting-room test is simple. Zip it up, raise both arms, and see whether the hem lifts above your hip bone. A puffer should move with you, not ride up.

Collage of Nuptse puffer jackets, long hooded parkas, and fleece, rain and windbreaker shells from The North Face, and a mood photo of a black puffer jacket worn with a chunky cream scarf and black trousers.
Nuptse puffers, long parkas and fleece and rain shells from The North Face.

Nuptse jackets and other puffers

Parkas and longer coats

Now for the longer coats. The brand's icons page dates its Himalayan Parka to 1994 and calls it a heavy-duty expedition veteran, and you can feel that lineage in every parka here. A parka is the piece I reach for when the walk to the train is long and the wind comes down the avenue, because the length covers the part of you that a short puffer leaves exposed.

 

The Nuptse Down Parka in TNF Black is the one that carries the Nuptse look into a longer, parka cut, and the Nuptse hooded puffer coat and the 1996 Retro Nuptse puffer coat are the coat-length versions. If you want to wear that Nuptse look over a dress or a long skirt, this is the way to do it. The Black City Long Hooded Down Jacket is a sleeker, narrower take, and the Hydrenalite City Long Down Hooded Parka and the Hydrenalite City Down Hooded Parka in two colors gives you a few options in that city-coat spirit. I would try the long ones with real boots on, since the hem should clear your boot shaft without dragging.

 

The Hikesteller Insulated Parka, the ThermoBall Hooded Parka, the Aconcagua Parka, the Reign On Parka and the Ruby Parka Coat are the practical ones, the sort of coat that lives by the door. The Arctic faux fur-trim parka is the dressiest of the group, and the trim around the hood frames the face in a way a plain hood does not.

 

One thing worth knowing: REI says down is the gold standard for serious cold but performs poorly when wet, so synthetic-fill puffies are the better option in damp conditions. I would check the product name for the word down or insulated before you decide which one suits a rainy city.

Parkas and longer coats

Fleece, rain and lightweight shells

This is the group I wear the most, even though it gets the least attention. REI's cold-weather advice is to wear three layers: a wicking base layer, an insulating middle layer such as a fleece or puffy jacket, and an outer layer that protects against rain and wind. The jackets here are the middle and the outer, and they make a puffer much more useful.

 

Fleece first. The Osito Lux Fleece Jacket shows up twice in this grid, in black and in cream, so you can compare. The Glacier fleece jacket is the simple zip version, the Yumiori high-neck fleece jacket has a collar that goes up around the throat, and the Yumiori Off Peak Full Zip Jacket is the same family with a full zip. The Extreme Pile 2 Full Zip Jacket is the pile one, and it is the one I would put under a trench in October. The Retro Denali Jacket has the easy, throw-on shape I like over a hoodie, and the Yumiori Quarter Zip, the Yumiori Full Zip and the Diamond Peak Insulated Jacket fill out the middle-layer options.

 

For the outer layer, the Daybreak Hooded Rain Jacket is the one built around rain, and the Venture 2 Hooded Jacket is another hooded shell. The Cyclone jacket, the Cyclone Hooded Wind Jacket and the hooded zip windbreaker jacket are the light ones, and their job is wind. I keep one in my bag for the day the wind turns. The Daybreak Mid Rain Parka is the longer, rain-first option.

 

What I would skip: wearing a down puffer as your only layer on a wet day, and buying a shell for rain without checking that the name actually says rain. A wind jacket is not a rain jacket, and fleece is a layer, not a coat. Pick the job first, then the piece.

Fleece, rain and lightweight shells

Rain shells, down and fleece for the coldest days

How I would build the winter layers

Here is how I would build a winter from this edit, using only two or three pieces. Start with a fleece, such as the Osito Lux or the Glacier, as the middle layer. Add a Nuptse for most days, short or cropped if you live in jeans, long if you live in dresses. Keep a rain shell by the door for the damp ones.

 

A few details on the down itself. The North Face says high fill power down is usually lighter, less bulky and more compressible than lower fill power down that is equally warm, but REI cautions that fill power alone does not tell you how warm a jacket will be, because other factors such as how much down is inside also matter. I would not buy on a number alone. The brand also launched the Responsible Down Standard in 2014 with Textile Exchange and Control Union Certifications, and says that since Fall 2016 it has only purchased RDS-certified down. In 2019 it launched a line of recycled down.

 

When you try one on, wear the thickest sweater you own, and move your arms. If you can do that, you have the right size. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Canada Goose Jacket and Clinique and the White Lab Coat.