Because you can't have depths without surfaces.
Linda Grant, thinking about clothes, books and other matters.
Pure Collection Ltd.
Net-a-porter UK

Thursday 22 November 2007

More than one coat - I agree


Women aren't just buying one workhorse to go with everything, Bostock has noticed, but a few statement-making pieces. "Our customers are treating themselves to two or three high-quality coats for different occasions," she says. "It's no longer just about practicality; outerwear plays a key role in winter's trends." (notes the Telegraph)


(I have a whole wardrobe full of them: two shearlings - one Nicole Farhi in black, one M&S in brown, an orange duffel coat from JCrew, an evening coat from Barney's, two belted black coats both from M&S, a DKNY purple and silver fleck from the Harvey Nicks sale, a Jean Muir navy, last year's Zara sell-out trapeze coat with the big gold buttons, a Zara grey belted short coat, a suede coat bought in the Neiman's sale, my leather jacket, an Ann-Louise Roswald floral summer coat, my mother's Persian lamb with white mink collar . . . but what I want most of all is the Armani Collezioni coat I saw in Selfridge's and didn't dare try on because it was my size and cost £895.)

4 comments:

materfamilias said...

Oh, thank you for this post. I'm deliberating over a gorgeous long black Creenstone coat. I've already got a grey cashmere classic coat I got on sale at Banana Republic in January, and a fitted brown wool coat with great leather trim, and my Christmas gift last year was a silver Burberry trench, so I think, "Isn't that enough 'good' coats?" But this latest is long enough to cover those awkward outfits that hang below the hem of the others, it's warm AND water-resistant, and I think I might really need it. Plus as I was leaving the shop yesterday, the owner, an evil seductress, said she'd give me 20% off!
So you can see why I'm grateful for your list of coats -- puts it all in perspective for me. In fact, I'm rather thinking I'll post about this on my site and link to you as providing my rationale, or at least, my excuse! Thanks again.

Linda Grant said...

I've since thought of at least three macs I have.

Buy it. Go, on, especially since you're getting 20% off.

I really like the idea of that silver Burberry trench

dana said...

Yummmm. I've been looking for the right coat for ages. No, it's not the red patent one.

I keep coming back to a early 60s (late 50s?) long swing cut with wide 3/4 sleeves that I thrifted for $10 as a single person. Black honeycomb wool, with three big covered buttons and a peter pan collar. Heavy as lead, but warm. Wonderful heavy satin lining. Had to buy long gloves for it.

Please, Linda, show us your necklace, the Armani, and some of your coats!

Anonymous said...

I know a lot of people feel that accessories MAKE the outfit, but I am a real coat lover. I still have the following: My mother's shearing-lined dark brown suede coat and a persian lamb coat my grandfather(a furrier) made for my grandmother in the early 1930s (huge platter collar to button up. I bought myself a calf-length scarlet wool coat with black velvet collar and accents on the cuffs last year. My next sewing project is a brown tweed wool swing coat from a pattern from 1954. I think having "good coats" is something that young people are only now discovering - they are so used to wearing ski jackets or peacoast to school (and, God help us, flannel pj bottoms to class with flipflops) that they have not had the experience of seeing the power of a good, solid coat to raise the level of their appearance. I recently gifted my 23 year old with a black and white houndstooth swing coat and she has smartened up her dress remarkably since then whenever she wears it.