As a WI native, I second this.

When you finally find a jacket warm enough to survive the winter without dressing in absurd amounts of layers, you quickly realize that "warm enough to survive -20" also means "warm enough that stepping inside a building will give you heat stroke".

My two coats of choice are either: A Jachs shirt jacket that I bought from Costco for temps between 60-40f, that I'll wear with a hoodie underneath for temperatures down to freezing, and an Alpha Industries N3-B that I wear in "fuck around and find out" temperatures.

Crucially, you can also go the other direction as well. I've worn my N3-B in 30 degree temperatures with nothing but a t-shirt underneath and felt not the slightest bit cold.

It irks me when I see advice in threads like this that are like "just thrift clothing and add more layers!". Layers can be good in specific use-cases, but if going outside involves putting of four layers, you're doing something wrong IMO.