Thursday, August 16, 2007

My coat is made of squee!

Now that the fall items are beginning to roll in, my annual coat search has begun. Last year's attempt to be fabulous fell far short of the goal; this year I just want to find a simple, beautiful, classic coat that will work just as well dressed up as down. What I'd really like is a classic menswear cashmere topcoat, cut for the feminine body, of course.

I wrote the above in a draft post on July 4th. Fast-forward a few weeks to last night...

Unlike my rather cracktastic claims of coat fabulousness last year (ye gods, what was I on?), I'm set to achieve true outerwear perfection this year. As mentioned in my last post, I've been positively giddy with this season's offerings. I've seen so many beautiful coats and cute jackets that my hard drive is filling up fast with the photos I've saved!

I wanted a neutral color, nothing too long, and nothing too trendy. I wanted a coat that would look polished with work clothes, but relaxed with casual clothes. Ultimately, I wanted something classic that would look great for a number of years, and not look dated as soon as the leaves begin to fall next year.

After looking at many, many coats, this is the first one to really slot itself into the "buy me!" niche in my brain:

Despite the fact that it looks slightly purple or lavenderish, the website listing (and the catalog picture) shows the coat is grey. I saw it and fell in love, despite the fact that I'm not the world's biggest fan of hooded coats. Still, pretty! I very nearly bought it a couple of days ago, but last night I kept surfing. Then I saw it, this beauty by Eileen Fisher:

The people at Saks really know how to style a photo shoot, eh? At first I thought it was a bathrobe, and I was completely underwhelmed. But the more I looked at it the more it intrigued me, and I wondered if somewhere out there, someone had actually taken pains to make the coat look interesting. Hurray for Garnet Hill!
I was sold, because this is exactly what I've been looking for. It's stylish, it's got that vintage vibe that I love, and the oatmeal shade is a perfect neutral (camel would be better, but I can live with it). This coat can be dressed up or down, and I'll still be able to rock it when I'm 70! How perfect is that?

Two things are a bit worrisome. It's unlined, so will it be warm enough? On the other hand, an unlined coat is a much lighter coat! The length is the stickiest point: it's about 42 inches long, and I'm about 61 inches high. If I'm lucky, it will hit at my mid- or lower-calf. I've got my fingers crossed. Stay tuned...

Edited to add another picture:

Eileen Fisher coat, at Neiman Marcus, Saks, Garnet Hill. Also at Eileen Fisher. Plus sizes, $378.00, women, $358.00.

Today's bag: camel Pierotucci Birkin-inspired bag.

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