“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves!” warns Matthew 7:15 in the King James Version of the Bible.
The sages of yore were not, of course, referring to the shaggy shearling masterpiece sported by Susan Anspach as she made goo-goo eyes at Jack Nicholson in Five Easy Pieces; nor were they giving a shout-out to the short, sweet sheepskin favored by baby bad-girl Kate Hudson in Almost Famous. Maybe this is because our biblical forefathers (and silent but ever-present foremothers) didn’t spend a lot of time at the movies, watching these characters—the epitome of carnal cool—stride across the screen in glamorous shearling outerwear.
Still there is something to this ancient admonition: If people didn’t look so adorable in their shearling duds, would Matthew have felt the need to forewarn us, thousands of years ago? Could he have peered into the future and seen those sexy reprobates down at the end of the bar, lifting hot toddies to their luscious lips, resplendent in their snappy shearlings? Sure, they might turn out to be false prophets, but let’s worry about that in the morning! Don’t they look splendid tonight?
Here, our roster of wolf-worthy sheep’s clothing, for the hottest cold weather adventures.