My Classics: Coats

I have a couple of coats I wear for ‘in-between weather’. I did have a third sumptuous long leather coat that I wore for some years, but I matched every Goth in town, so that one was sold off a couple of years ago. In my youth I also wore an army surplus greatcoat which was wonderfully warm.

I have a Filippa K trenchcoat which looks good for work in spring. It looks terrible on a hanger but good on. You need to find a way to wear them so they don’t make you look like Columbo, so I tend to wear mine open with the belt knotted at the back.

The coat below is actually a marvel. I was cold one day when the Swedish late summer suddenly turned to autumn. It was early morning, I had a long long day ahead of me and I was freezing cold in a light leather jacket. So I shot into the nearest cheap clothing shop and grabbed a coat off the rack. I thought it was pretty but as soon as I put it on people started stopping me in the street to tell me what a pretty coat it was or say ‘Desigual?’ Only then did I realise that it was a copy of a Desigual coat.

It is now eleven years later and I am still wearing it. It cheers me up on cold grey days, I don’t need a scarf if the neckline is buttoned and the style suits my shape. I don’t have hips but this coat gives me some. I tried to buy a genuine Desigual one but none of them had colours as pretty as this one.