As winter quickly approaches, it becomes time for people to put away summer clothes and throw on an ugly, heavy winter coat. However, new trends prove this no longer has to be the case.

This season, students are sacrificing warmth for style as trendier winter coats are being offered as a substitute for big, bulky parkas.

"People don't want to wear big, puffy coats anymore," said Christina Haley, sales associate at Mr. Charles Shops, Inc., 228 E. College Ave. "They want more stylish, smaller ones."

Haley said Mr. Charles offers pea coats in various colors, as well as coats with fur trim and -- the hot item this year -- camel-colored shearling coats.

The shearling coat -- which is suede with a white furry lining -- seems to be the major style of winter wear, as it can be found in various lengths and in the trendiest stores this season.

Another new style is the fur-lined suede, corduroy and denim jackets. These jackets can been seen in stores like Access, 224 E. College Ave., and Connections, 130 S. Allen St., where sales associate Lindsey Sikorski said they have been popular sellers.

"We try and bring in more trendy options than department stores would offer," Sikorski said.

She said the popular coats that Connections carries are the suede and corduroy fur-lined coats, especially in camel color, and pea coats in various lengths.

Pea coats are the classic winter coat seen on college campuses from year to year; however, classic does not have to mean boring.

Retailers are offering a twist on pea coats by selling them in lengths that hit the ankle or knee, as well as in the traditional style.

Also, pea coat colors this season have a little more excitement.

Aside from the navy blue and black, they can been found in light blue, camel, burgundy, red and gray.

Although men do not have as many options as women do when it comes to winter coat trends, they can also be stylish this winter.

Some of the options for men include leather jackets, suede sherpas, down vests and timeless wool coats.

Lesley Rajkovich of Eddie Bauer, 131 S. Allen St., said the coats being offered are relatively traditional and the store has sold a lot of men's wool coats.

Gap, Eddie Bauer and J. Crew are all showing wool coats for men in black, brown and gray.