Why are all winter coats black?

[macherie]

Surely on a miserable grey morning in the middle of November, leaving home in the dark it would do your heart good to put on a lovely deep red coat to cheer your day?

Well that's what I want, or maybe purple or even navy, surely that's not outrageous is it?

I have looked EVERYWHERE in RL and online.

95% of coats I have seen have been black, or a nice pooey shade of brown - who does that suit

[millenniumfalcon]

it's a rubbish picture, but if i didn't already have a winter coat i'd be saving for one of these but in the blue fabric on the left of this picture

deep sigh...

[moondog]

I agree.
Why do we all have to dress like Albanian turnip gatherers?

[millenniumfalcon]

this is a better picture of the coat but i don't like the purple.

[millenniumfalcon]

btw the coat i already have is several shades of pooey brown and it suits me perfectly

[macherie]

Millenium, that's the first coloured/patterned coat I've seen!

I'm convinced that if someone set up in business making stylish colourful raincoats for spring and warm coats for winter they would be millionaires.

I found a lovely style of coat the other day, but black, the SA said that lots of people were looking for the same one in colours.

[tulpe]

What's your budget for your winter coat?

Paul Smith usually does fab colourful winter coats. I bought a beautiful magenta coat from there 3 years ago and I absolutely love wearing it. So if you calculate cost per wear.....tis a bargain .

Last year I bought a dark grey reefer style coat to wear with jeans & converse and felt so miserable whenever I wore it. Am ebaying it this year.

[trixymalixy]

any of these any good?

[tulpe]

I don't think black is a practical colour at all - particularly if you have a coat in a particularly dust-magnet-ish fabric.

I don't want to get all "colour me beautiful" on yo' ass ( ) but many people shouldn't wear black anyway as it is so draining. Thus making most people look even more pale & drawn than they naturally would at that time of year anyway.

[macherie]

Agree with tulpe about black, as stylish as it is, it's very unflattering to those with a fair complexion, and that's definately me - in mid-winter I'm so pale I'm almost transparent. I have an array of scaves to detract from the black, but this year I'd really love to get away from it altogether.

I saw this and this today in Coast, they are both lovely but not quite what I want.

I'd be willing to go up to 500 for my dream coat, as I would wear it for years and them the cost per wear would be very reasonable

[LetThemEatCake]

any of the middle 4 any good?

[LuluMaman]

I just got a purple Edina Ronay coat in t k maxx... they had a great selection of coats, all different colours, styles etc.. worth a look if you've not tried there

[LetThemEatCake]

red

purple

pink

[brimfull]

love the coats in millenium's link

[macherie]

I like the Sonia Rykiel one, I have a navy peacoat by her for autumn and spring and it is tres chic!

The thing is I have a coat I love - it's down filled so toasty warm, but it's beautifully shaped so I don't look like the Michelin man, nipped in at the waist, a line skirt and a shawl collar that forms a hood. It's perfect, but it's black.

Searching thr web for down coats usually ends up with those landsend type ones with no style or shape. surely someone makes stylish ones with colour?

[macherie]

Sorry, I am fussy

I couldn't wear the red or the pink as my neck would be too cold ( again)

But I do like the purple anglomania one in the second link.

thanks for looking

I'm always afraid to go into TK maxx because I always come home with a pile of stuff I don't need but couldn't resist, last time was egyptian cotton sheets and metal drinking bottles, silicone baking moulds and leather photo albums, etc.

[LetThemEatCake]

about 7 years ago, when money was tight(er) I got a redwinter coat from (wait for it) Dorothy Perkins!!! and it actually lasted very well.

And 2 winters ago, when I'd just had dc2 and didn't want to spending ££££ on a coat, I bought a black and white houndstooth-y, funnel-necked one by Red Herring at Debenhams. Was about £80 and I had no end of compliments on it including from one of my snootier fashionista editors

[macherie]

I love this.

I really love it.

The price is rather eyewatering though.

BUT, I usually wear a heavy coat from mid oct to mid april, so 6 months a year, 26 weeks, for say 3 years, 78 weeks, say 5 days a week, that's nearly 400 wears so 1.50 a wear - that's great value, right?

I need a coat enablers thread

[macherie]

Look at the pink - swoon

[LucyOnTheSchoolRunWithDiamonds]

that's not so expensive. You don't need an enabler - your fashion maths is spot-on. £1.50 is less expensive that the second Starbucks that you'd be drinking to warm you up if you bought a second-rate coat from elsewhere.

[macherie]

Thank you Lucy! That's exactly the sort of thing I want to hear, because there is a tiny, little voice in my head telling me it's a profligate waste of money (funnily the voice sounds strangely like my MIL - not that I would dream of telling her how much I spend on clothes)

[LucyOnTheSchoolRunWithDiamonds]

if my MiL was in my head telling me that something was a waste of money, I'd need no other excuse to buy it. I delight in going against her grain, even if only in secret.

I could tell you about a bad, bad thing I did to that end just recently ... but here's not the place.

[macherie]

I'll sleep on it, hate these schoolnights, bed at 10.