Proper coats
Look properly attired for winter...
When I was a little girl, my grandmothers were my fashion icons. Born in the 1920’s at opposite ends of the world, they were each a tour de force in their own right - and whatever life threw at them, they were always beautifully ‘turned out’.
My paternal grandmother (we called her Granny) was fiercely intelligent, wise-cracking, and could turn her hand to just about anything. Despite being only 4’10” in height, her style until her death was best described as Katherine Hepburn-esque: white shirt, wide-legged trousers and always trailing a cigarette holder. Legend has it that one day in Kenya a tarantula dared to climb those trousers and, unflinching, she kicked it into the next hemisphere without spilling so much as a drop of Amarula. Absolute life goals.
My maternal grandmother was similarly resourceful. An excellent gardener and flamboyant Gilbert & Sullivan performer, at 13 she left South London and moved to France to work as a servant, before becoming a nurse. She retained a love of everything French until her death, insisting we call her ‘Grandmama’ instead of ‘Grandma’ (a name she thought sounded American and therefore definitely ‘common’). She was the polar opposite to Granny in the fashion stakes: prim, proper and ultra feminine. She never left the house without a hat, gloves and a coat.
One was all about being the perfect lady, the other couldn’t give a good goddamn for your propriety or anything else society thought she should be. I think I decided a long time ago which one I wanted to be when I grew up.
But there’s something to be said for being suitably attired sometimes – and particularly in the cold. As my Grandmama would say, you’re never fully dressed without a coat – and, in the winter at least, I agree with her.
So here are some of the best coats I’ve seen lately – all of which would have been approved and admired, and kept very carefully inside dust jackets in the wardrobe when not in use.
WithPockets X
Affordable
COS - Structured Double-Faced Wool Jacket
A really good looking wool jacket for only $255; that’s full price, not even in the sale. Total bargain.
COS also has a belted wool blend shawl collar jacket in burgundy in a similar price range. I’d never considered COS for a coat until I started writing this piece but now they’re high on my radar.
Hobbs - Prisha Wool Blend Coat
Hobbs is having a fantastic sale right now and this classic grey wool coat is just £139 ($269).
Mid-range
Seed Heritage - Wool Blend Cape Coat
This is a stunning part-poncho part-trench coat shape and one that you could wear any number of things underneath without creasing.
Bianca Spender - Denim Wool Suiting Evolve Coat
I may be a little obsessed with this coat. It is such an unusual fabric. It is currently on sale with 30% off. I may be desperately trying to justify this purchase in my head.
Friends with Frank – The Constance Blazer
This is one of the more unusual tailored jackets I’ve seen in recent times and if you’d told me it was by a high-end Japanese designer, instead of Melbourne brand Friends with Frank, and cost twice the price I would have believed you.
High end
Carla Zampatti - Wool Melange Suiting Scarf Jacket
I mean, who doesn’t want a really fine wool scarf built in to their jacket so it always sits perfectly? Even online you can tell this fabric is top-notch.
Nour Hammour – Jane Cotton Swing Coat
Parisian brand Nour Hammour only does coats and jackets – and boy do they do them well. This is the kind of number Twiggy would have worn modelling in the 1960’s.
Max Mara – Wool Robe Coat (?)
I’ll be honest, I’m only 90% sure that the named coat is the one in this picture (MaxMara making me work for my money by not putting the names of any of their items in the Instagram post and having several similar coats in stock…) I certainly hope so because it’s fabulously theatrical. And, like Grandmama, who doesn’t want a touch of the Mikado in their life?
Do you like a good coat? Or are you more of a free spirit like Granny? Let us know…