It's 7pm on a Sunday and the forecast says 3°C, with a fine drizzle that has every intention of hanging around until tomorrow. You pull on the quilted jacket you bought in the sales last winter: good-looking, light, and somehow completely incapable of keeping you warm at the bus stop. So is down the only filling that works? Not quite — and the label has more to tell you than the price tag does.

Read the filling before you commit

Most quilted jackets carry an inner label listing what's inside. Two families turn up there: down and feathers on one side, synthetic fibres on the other. With down, the wording usually comes as a pair — "90% down, 10% feathers" — and that ratio is doing real work: weight for weight, the higher the down content, the more the filling lofts and traps air. And it's that trapped air, held in the tiny clusters, that insulates. Some labels add a fill power rating, usually given in cubic inches per ounce: an indicator of loft, not a verdict on warmth.

Beware the opposite reflex, the one that treats down as the only serious option and dismisses everything else. A well-made piece can see you through a day in town, and a badly cut down jacket will leave you shivering outside the bakery. With synthetic fillings, look for things you can actually check: the weight of the filling in grams per square metre; the type of fibre (hollow polyester, siliconised fibres); how it copes with damp, which you'll need to check in the brand's own claims — a synthetic fibre can carry on insulating when wet, whereas down loses its loft — and whether there's a reflective lining. Yes, a jacket without down can be warm enough: it needs a dense enough filling, a fibre suited to how you'll wear it, and a construction that holds the air in. A thin quilted jacket won't cut it at a bus stop in 3°C, though. One more detail that says nothing about warmth but plenty about how seriously a brand takes itself: down provenance certifications, when they appear on the label.

Holding on to the warmth is a matter of construction

Turn the jacket inside out. The stitching inside tells you almost everything. Stitch-through seams, which sew both layers straight through, are said to let more cold in, whereas baffles — channels or box-wall construction — keep the filling where it should be. Then comes the list of details you can't see in the photo: a collar and cuffs that fit properly, a length that covers your lower back, a hood that doesn't turn into a sail the first time the wind picks up.

At the office, a fine merino knit worn under a quilted jacket hanging on the back of a chair
Baffles keep the filling exactly where it belongs

Second thing to think about: layering. A fine merino wool knit underneath usually does more for your comfort than yet another gadget stitched onto the shoulder — and it comes off at your desk without any drama. Think about your actual week, too: standing still at a bus stop asks something different of a jacket than a twenty-minute walk does. And in November rain, remember that wet down loses its loft: a waterproof outer then matters as much as the filling.

What you're really paying for

As a rough guide, budget around £50 to £120 for a classic fibre-filled quilted jacket, £120 to £250 for down, and more like £200 to £400 for a technical outdoor piece. Second-hand, prices often land between £30 and £80, with a bit of patience and a saved search. What moves the number? The proportion of down, the fill power, the quality of the shell, the length, the aftercare, and where you live — London and the coast don't come out the same.

Where to look: large sports retailers for entry-level, outdoor brands online for technical pieces, charity shops and resale platforms for a lucky find. Alterations are worth a thought too: having a seam re-stitched or a zip replaced often costs less than buying a new jacket.

In the fitting room, three checks that take thirty seconds: read the filling composition (the famous down-and-feathers duo, or the percentage of fibres), pinch the quilting to see whether it still has any loft, then raise your arms. If the jacket rides up to your ribs and cold air rushes in at the cuffs, it'll photograph beautifully and freeze you in real life.

Really, the question isn't "down or not" but "for which week". For the January bus stop, go for a properly specified filling and decent baffles: either a high-loft down or a high-grammage synthetic, with a reflective lining if you feel the cold. For rain-soaked commutes, a light quilted jacket is often enough, and leaves room for a knit underneath. And the jacket from last winter that leaves you shivering? It may just need an extra layer or a quick trip to the alterations shop. Our money's on it doing another season.