How to wear a puffer jacket (and not look like the Michelin Man)

“Most people tend to go up a size, but this can backfire unless you’re a fan of the oversized look,” Garnaut says. “Most puffers are already cut quite generously.”

Another simple styling trick is to wear an on-trend cross-body bag, with a wide strap (logo optional), across your chest.

“This breaks up all the fabric and brings you out from underneath all that material. They’re also pretty fashionable and easy to come by.”

Among the influencers and designers at Australian Fashion Week in May, the puffer jacket was used as paparazzi-bait in dopamine shades, cropped styles and suit combinations. In a hot pink, long jacket from Danish label Ganni, Balenciaga rubber boots and a crimson mini-skirt, creative consultant Violet Grace Atkinson triumphantly rose above the puffer’s propensity to overwhelm the body.

“For long-length puffers choose a short hemline underneath to add another level to the look,” Atkinson says. “Miniskirts are in, thanks to Miuccia Prada, and I think the juxtaposition with a huge puffer is interesting and unexpected. For cropped puffers, I love an uber-long pant or jean that is fitted around the waist and then widens to a straight-leg. It makes your legs look longer and your eyes are drawn to the fitted waist then down to the bottom of the pants.”

Straying from the comfort of your activewear essentials can also enliven puffer jackets, with Atkinson looking for adventurous prints and cuts to soften the utilitarian approach of outer layers.

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“What matters most is that you feel comfortable taking some risks and that it suits your personality,” she says. “Puffers are also inherently more masculine just by virtue of the bulkier look so adding something a little more risqué and out of the activewear genre is an interesting styling hack.”

On grey mornings, contemplating miniskirts, heels and complementary body bags might be too much before your first coffee so take comfort in Garnaut’s final piece of advice.

“Don’t worry too much about styling your entire look around the jacket,” Garnaut says. “Just choose something warm. It will most likely end up on a coat hook.”

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