Rise of the social gathering coat: They’re the middle-aged lady’s key to trying youthful, trendy and heat, says SHANE WATSON. And these are precisely which of them you’ll want to purchase…

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Had you asked me back in the summer whether it was worth getting a new coat for the party season, I’d have thought you were crackers.

A coat? In the lead up to Christmas? When we’re extra strapped for cash and only thinking of party clothes?

Now I would say that a cracker of a coat, one that turned your head when you first saw it and made you think ‘that’s pretty fabulous… maybe too fabulous’ (because we tend to err on the side of caution these days) is a smart shortcut to putting you in the party mood post 50.

I say this because I’ve bought one myself in the past month – a long, dark grey blue, curly faux shearling funnel neck (£149, zara.com). It’s on the pricey side because it looks real, feels real and it’s an outfit maker: I have worn it every other day since – to a party, a funeral, a lunch, drinks in the pub – and apparently I’m not the only one rushing out to buy, not just any coat, but a really good-looking fake fur.

Marks & Spencer’s second bestselling item of the season has been a brown, midi, single-breasted coat which featured in its autumn campaign. Not surprisingly, it has sold out but there’s another one in store now at the same price (£100, marksandspencer.com) that’s just a tad longer (mid-calf), lighter brown and a bit chunkier and it has 15,000 (repeat 15,000) new style fur coats landing in store in the lead up to Christmas. This fabulous fake fur moment is huge and it’s for everyone.

If you last gave fake fur the time of day back in the Noughties, these are quite a different animal.

They look expensive and are more expensive (most of them in the region of £100, although Zara currently has a sheared shearling for nearly £600) but that’s because you can barely tell them apart from the real thing. In texture, cut, feel, finish, they’re a million miles from the faux furs of previous years which were good for just a few wears before they started looking like an overwashed teddy bear.

Can you justify buying one now? Definitely. Just because a coat comes off at some point, doesn’t mean it isn’t worth bothering about as much as the rest of your

outfit. You can make a memorable entrance, or exit, in an above average coat. The right coat completes and elevates an outfit. And in this new era of faux fur exceeding all expectations, everyone notices you – I kid you not, someone has commented on my Zara coat every time I’ve worn it. I would hunt one down in the next couple of weeks. They’re warm as toast too.

As I say they’re landing in stores thick and fast and selling out within days so my recommendations may be snapped up as I write (if so, zero in on Zara and M&S for choice and value for money). Along with my favourites, here are some general faux fur coat-buying tips.

1. There are as many great jackets out there, but you get much more for your money with a coat and what looks good now is a long, bottom-of-calf-grazing length, and a single-breasted masculine cut (double-breasted is too bulky). Again it’s not cheap, but Zara’s limited edition foxy-looking, long, bronze-coloured coat (£149) is a keeper.

2. Don’t go too long-haired or feathery this time around. The mood is more sophisticated, sleek and expensive- looking. There’s a lot of minky fur around – John Lewis has a single-breasted, brown style (£199), but probably the best fur for versatility is faux sheepskin.

3. Sheepskin is a catch-all term that describes anything from a tight curly fur (my Zara coat) to a finish as smooth as a bowls lawn and everything in between. It doesn’t matter which you pick so long as it has enough polish to suit all occasions.

That doesn’t mean you’re only wearing these for smart. The whole point is these furs look fabulous with trousers and a sweater, or boots and a daytime dress. Most of the time I wear mine with jeans and trainers. Zara does a good reversible, faux sheepskin, so you can wear it just with the cuffs and lapels on show (£59.99).

Try not to buy black – too limiting – unless you are a lover of Charlotte Simone’s glamorous fur-trimmed coats, in which case M&S have a longline Per Una coat on special offer (£88). It’s one of those styles inspired by Seventies Afghan coats that’s pretty hard for some of us Fifty Plusers to resist.