Category: Coats
Delicious Denim x
Delicious denim is having it’s moment and even the classic jacket is being taken for a creative ride…say hello to Sibling bling..
Acne (still such a dodgy name..) boggles with toggles.
Preen explores the bomber…
and the traditional.
(All jackets and photos from Net-a-porter.com)
Whilst Maison Margela wants you to pay for deconstruction..
Which one floats your boat? Or will Levi’s classic always have that place in your heart?
Laters, Kate x
Craig Green x
It’s taken a while to track down the designer of this coat..
Not surprising: It’s from an SS15 menswear collection…and is a rather nice – rare? example of an element of power women have in fashion…we have the most choice clothes-wise, nothing is forbidden or taboo..and then, when a talented, new menswear designer does turn up…we snuffle him up as well..
Wise women that we are…
This is all the work of 27 year old Central Saint Martins graduate Craig Green who debuted his first solo runway show in London..where the unthinkable happened..tears and cheers from the notoriously fickle fashion pack..and women running after him waving their gold-plated credit cards..
It’s easy to see the appeal..his work conjures up such contradictions as mesonic and pagan, protective yet vulnerable..layers versus movement..
But I just like it when functional clothes are plundered – fencing uniforms, riding clothes, army uniforms..let’s face it, any uniform..and the fact that it’s padded. I also revel in the joy that women know exactly what they like, and have no qualms stealing it as their own..
I just wish I had one…
Laters, Kate x
Chloe x
Chloe fall 2015 delves into the deep satisfaction of beautiful tailoring and boho chic. This coat: I lust. The soft retro cut, the wide lapels, the longer arms, the burnished brass buttons, the subtle height on the shoulders..the length (a pain to walk in, but oh-so elegant to see). Simple, exclusive, fashion gold.
It’s 70’s but it’s cultured 70’s – the tiny covered buttons, the thin neck scar..it’s elegant campari drinking on a balcony in Italy rather than bronzed beach babe with a bottle of beer.
There were dresses for the barefoot comtessas.
But my heart was beating for the tailoring: I could’ve easily eaten more and felt disappointed every time the music stopped.
But when you see Chloe and Burberry plundering the same creative vein, you know there’s something in the air: patchwork and ponchos are obviously the mind-candy of the moment.
The boho vibe is strong between them: But I still think it’s the cuts and tailoring where the true riches lie.
Laters, Kate x
Padded Cell.. x
Sometimes I wonder if my coat obsession is a bit like a whining cry of entitlement, endlessly wanting it all. The Husband is certainly worried – he now wants one coat in, one coat out..which seems eminently sensible..but it nags away at me. I just think we spend a lot more time in coats – particularly in the UK – than we ever give them credit for. They can be the ultimate style statement of an outfit.
The latest flame for my moth is the quilted coat. I’ve been looking for the perfect one for sometime and was even considering buying an indian kantha quilt to make into the ideal article. How ironic then to see Burberry Porsum with the same idea..
(Although I know which option will be cheaper..)
And then there’s the smoking jacket, once the sole preserve of men and now fair game for all with their jewel-like colours radiating magpie charm. How cool with the cropped trousers and no-nonsense footwear?
Or else there’s the Japanese option, particularly the winter quilted kimono jackets to love and wear..imagine with a pair of dark navy flares and a casually worn cross-body fringe bag..and the majority of these are reversible: Two for the price of one! Bargain!
The truth is how can one be limited in a world of endless possibilities??
Laters, Kate x
Luscious Libertine x
Designer Johnson Hartig of Libertine is a man who likes to chase the scream..it’s all over his clothes: Surrealism, Dadaism, futurism, exhilarating exuberance, rave, punk, street and fun.
Jazzed up juicy vintage silhouettes with glorious jewel case colours to relish with rapture.
All thrown together with Warhol’s soup can and Pop Art talismans: The joy is in the impact…the devil’s in the detail..
If I could choose any item from NYFW 2015 it would be one of these coats..the splinter is deciding which one..
Laters, Kate x
Coach Journey..
NYFW is in full force with a royal gallimaufry (look it up) of offerings, each screaming for attention. But sometimes it’s the unexpected that catches the roving eye. This is Coach..a brand I normally associate with tan and handbags..
But these are tough, potent clothes designed for attitude with a modern, fit-for-combat edge, ready to fight the worst of the winter weather with chutzpah and style whilst keeping enemies at bay.
And there’s a duffel..accessorised with a bandana. What’s not to love?
These shoes nail the bitch sentiment…hard nosed, no-nonsense but with just a subtle sprinkling of fairy dust with their glowing gold and cheeky tassel. Never thought you’d like a kitten heel? Look again..
(All photos from Style.com)
This is functional dressing with eclectic additions, it’s hard and seductive, frank and forthright with an awareness of what’s happening…but a determination to strut their own path.
I’ll have some of that..
Laters, Kate x
French Fancies x
It snowed in London last night – not a lot, but enough to make a new ,white world and Charlie a very happy boy. I’m just grateful we got our boiler to work again..why is it that boilers start staggering on what will be their last legs just when the coldest weather kicks in? And why are modern boilers so crap??
As a distraction from impending doom and financial ruin, I’ve been ogling Tommy Ton’s street style photos from the french Couture Shows, which have to be some of the greatest shots to obsess over: The ideas, the outfits that should look promisingly awful but by small strokes of magic give irony and imagination pride of place..
Maybe the cut out and keep part of the twenty-tens will be eclecticism. That heady mix of anything goes and modern-old-soul..
The power to dazzle by mixing high with low, latest and oldest, hard and soft, summer and winter with mesmerising narrative power…things that shouldn’t work in an outfit…working..
It’s a cocktail of collision..it’s dangerous territory and a high risk way of telling a story..easy to hype or misjudge. Or not.
(All photos Style.com)
It’s an organic development that creates the dramatic pulse, exploding the rules and energetically galloping over the baseline..
It’s the stuff of dreams…
Laters, Kate x
The Sales x
Can ideas grow old and desires outdated? Tastes certainly change and a subtle alteration can update the mundane, but how fast does fashion really run? Does a Season-behind-item really matter when the eye-watering price tag is suitably slashed? So whispers the seductive red-lipped temptation that is the January Sales, hip-swaying us in with a promise and a kiss to that shopper’s minefield of potential disaster and paradise..pick it right and get the prize for half the dosh…get it wrong and it’s a turkey turd festering in the darkest corner of your wardrobe forever..
I always thought the January Sales were the perfect opportunity to invest in a classic..the softest cashmere jumper, a timeless camel coat..an iconic silk blouse. But I’ve now seen the light: The Sales are not about anonymity and being conservative, but taking a risk and finding that one standout piece to love and hold forever, something cutting edge, different, unusual with independent thought, something that can mix the refined with everyday. And pieces like that takes time to find..
Thankfully, the fashion posts of the last year have provided a fine quality control to navigate the choppy waters of desire against fads and fly-by-nights, and the Collection that remains an earworm my head is Peter Pilotto AW15..so I took a deep breath and secretly went on a coat hunt – and this is where technology now makes such a difference…with websites such as ‘Search the Sales’ you can pin-point exactly what you’re looking for, they find it for the cheapest price available….and then (thankfully for Christopher Credit) you find it’s already sold out..
Next stop, Ebay…
Laters, Kate x
Extra Ordinary x
Burberry Prorsum Pre-fall 2015 is a long way from scuttlebutt rumours and diva strops. It’s classy, simple, elegant dressing with just a whiff of urban street..
There’s a forensically clear silhouettes – skinny legs, ankle boots and big layers that we can all believe in..
The coats are particularly simple and absolutely lustworthy – but there are no surprises, no attempts to gnaw at anything primal..
( All pictures from Style.com)
Just effortlessly produced wardrobe staples you’d want to wear forever…the spice is up to you to add…
Laters, Kate x
Haute Spot x
A new label for me, but one with pedigree: The Adam Lippes brand was launched in 2013 but the bloodline goes back much further..Adam Lippes first started work at Polo Ralph Lauren, before receiving a touch of gilding at Oscar de la Renta, where he became one of the youngest Creative Designers ever, eventually leading to the creation of his own label ADAM in 2004.
The sports lux influence is there, fused with the elegant and refined for clever, multi-functional, multi-purpose outfits..
Comprehensive, wearable designs with enough detail to make you look beyond first impressions.
Add in shearling and padded coats and it’s the stuff of snug bedding translated into fashion..
One to watch..
Laters, Kate x
Maison Bentley Style 