What is a parka jacket?

A longer line hooded jacket built for weather, descended from the hooded skin coats of the Arctic and standardised by mid century military issue. It is the practical end of the coat spectrum: hood up, weather out.

What is the difference between a parka and a duffle coat?

Both are hooded, but our duffle coats are dense wool on the outside with toggle fastenings and heritage character, while a parka is built around weather. Gloverall's two men's parkas split that further: the Sharpe is a technical showerproof shell, and the Hawkins is a showerproof cotton twill insulated with Dufflewool, our own 100% wool fill.

Is the Sharpe parka waterproof?

No. The Sharpe is showerproof rather than waterproof: a durable technical fabric that sheds rain and wind and is built for commuting through British weather, not for sustained downpours. The full specification is on the product page.

Which Gloverall parka is warmest?

The Hawkins Dufflewool Parka. It is insulated with Dufflewool, a 100% wool fill that keeps working when damp and breathes indoors, so it carries its warmth inside the coat. The Sharpe is an uninsulated technical shell and takes its warmth from what you layer underneath.

Men's Parkas

Gloverall men's parkas bring our outerwear construction to two different answers to the same problem: the technical Sharpe for showerproof commuting, and the Hawkins Dufflewool Parka, insulated with our own 100% wool fill. Both are cut for layering and built for real winters. Prefer wool on the outside too? See our men's duffle coats.

Men's Parkas

A parka is the practical end of the Gloverall range: hooded, long enough to cover you properly, and cut with room for knitwear underneath. There are two, and they solve the winter differently. The Sharpe Technical Hooded Parka is the technical one, cut from a durable showerproof fabric with an ergonomic hood built to move with you, in Black, Navy or Red, in sizes S to 2XL. The Hawkins Dufflewool Parka is the warm one, in a showerproof cotton twill insulated with Dufflewool, Gloverall's own 100% wool fill, with a fishtail back, a fixed hood, four front pockets and an internal waist adjuster, in Navy and Army Green, in sizes XS to 2XL.

Technical Shell or Wool Insulation?

The Sharpe is the lighter and more weather-facing of the two: it is about staying dry and moving easily, and it layers over your own knitwear for warmth. The Hawkins carries its warmth inside, in a wool fill that keeps insulating when damp and breathes indoors in a way synthetic wadding does not. If your winter is wet and mild, the Sharpe is enough. If it is properly cold, or if you want one coat that does not need a jumper underneath to work, the Hawkins is the one.

Parka, Duffle Coat or Overcoat?

A parka is hooded, casual and built around weather. A duffle coat is wool on the outside, toggle-fastened, and the piece Gloverall has made since 1951. An overcoat is longer and formal, cut to go over tailoring. Choose the parka when the day is wet, cold and does not involve a suit. The full technical range, including the Bonington Puffa Jacket and the packable Wainwright, is in Gloverall Outdoor.