Need a good quality winter coat in a petite length

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Precis have stopped making clothing, which is a disaster for petite women as they were one of the only companies making good quality clothes.

I need a coat like the one in the attached photo. It needs to be around 70% wool because I sometimes go to very cold places. The one I have no longer fits me. I'll need a size 12 or 14.

It must be in a petite length. None of this "Why don't you just take up a hem" nonsense as it's not just about the length, it's about the positioning of the waistline and shoulder width and all that, and quite frankly if I'm spending £200 on a coat then it needs to fit properly in the first place.

Can anyone help please?!

By the way, I'm not prepared to buy second hand any more as I tried that twice last year. I bought two different coats from Ebay, two different sellers, and both of them arrived absolutely stinking of perfume and air freshener - even dry cleaning didn't solve the problem so I had to get rid of them.

Hobbs do a petite range. Have a look at their Tilda 100% wool coat. You might need to supplement with thermals or a Uniqlo gilet to wear underneath if you're going somewhere really cold.

Thank you. Any other ideas please?

Any other ideas please? The Hobbs ones aren't suitable as they're not long enough (I need a long coat in a petite length) and are also quite shapeless and don't fit my shape.

I usually buy most of my clothes from Collectif due to the better hip-to-waist ratio, but they don't make proper wool coats. It's essential that I find a good quality coat with a high content of wool.

It's awful that Precis have closed as they were the go-to place for stuff like this.

Please help!

Zalando: www.zalando.co.uk/womens-clothing-coats/?assortment_area=petite&upper_material=wool

Reiss (expensive and might be a bit short): www.reiss.com/p/wool-blend-coat-womens-marcie-in-black/?category_id=1124&gaEeList=W%20-%20Coats%20%26%20Jackets

Karen Millen (pricey but some are made of wool): www.karenmillen.com/womens/petite/coats-jackets

Has 58% wool in it: www.boden.co.uk/en-gb/chiltern-wool-blend-coat-navy/sty-u0019-nav?cat=C1_S2_G189

Isn't black: fennwrightmanson.com/collections/petite-coats-jackets/products/armel-coat-petite

My other suggestion is to go to an American site and get one shipped over. Not ideal though.

@handslikecowstits Wow, I had no idea that Reiss or Karen Millen made petites! I've done endless searches for quality petite clothing and they've never come up. I wish they'd publicise it more.

Does anyone know if there's any branches of Reiss in London that sell petites, or are they online only like so many places now?

And am I right in thinking that Karen Millen have closed all their shops so now they're entirely online?

I wouldn't usually spend anywhere near this much money on clothes, but I think it will be worth it for a good quality winter coat, and it looks like I don't have much choice anyway.

Any more suggestions are welcome!

Any more suggestions please?

No but in the same position. There's a huge gap in the market for petite clothing which nobody seems to be filling for some reason

I mean there's plenty of cheap crap on Asos, but there is hardly any good quality petite clothing. Hobbs clothes are so shapeless and Seasalt don't have the style I need. Precis basically made perfect coats and now it's all gone.

You can try J Crew, but I’m not sure what the shipping cost will be.

Also in the same boat. At 5 ft nothing there's no chance of me getting away with regular fit, especially at the moment when coats, like everything else, seem to be oversized. Hobbs, Reiss, and Karen Millen (which I also didn't know did petites) offer a very limited range and the size 6s always seem to be out of stock. Other petite brands just don't seem to have the quality.

Why did Precis fold? They were around for quite a while. I always found their other clothes a bit uninspiring but the coats were great.

Why did Precis fold? They were around for quite a while. I always found their other clothes a bit uninspiring but the coats were great.

@GreenVaseline Exactly. Their coats were the absolute best for petite women looking for good quality coats. I have no idea why they folded, but maybe it's because the rest of their collection was merely "good" but uninspiring?

I went to lots and lots of shops today and found precisely nothing. The thing is I have money to spend but nobody's interested! Like I said it's not my usual budget, but I would certainly spend £200 - £300 to buy something of the right quality that fits properly and will last.

Considering how many coats I tried on today, I think that trying to order online will be a bit ridiculous - I mean I'll have to spend thousands to get everything at once for comparison.

If anyone else has any bright ideas, please help! It's getting slightly urgent now.

I've still not had any luck. Please keep your suggestions coming if you have any.

I’ve just bought a Jaeger coat from M & S (son gets staff discount) and have taken to a local seamstress to get the sleeves shortened together with a older Hobbs one that I have that I was just turning the sleeves up. It’s not ideal and like you and miss the passing of précis petit. I have also taken a petite Karen Millen dress to her too to have 4” taken off the bottom! Jaeger and Karen Millen sizing appears to come up big as I needed a size 6 in them and normally an 8 in most things.

That's interesting as all the reviews I've read of Karen Millen are saying that their sizing comes up small! There is one petite coat on their website that I might consider, but I've already read that their clothes don't have much bust allowance so that would be a problem too. Black Friday is coming up but I really don't know what to do. The trouble is that if I bought a non-petite coat and got the sleeves shortened, I would really have to trudge around lots of shops and try them all on because of the issue with the shoulder width, and bust line and waistline positioning as they are usually all wrong. At least with petite clothing it is a bit easier to buy online. I'm getting a bit worried about it all.

If it was genuinely just a sleeve shortening that I needed then I'd consider it, but it's the other measurements that cause problems too.

I'm a teeny tiny four foot nine so I feel your pain with finding clothes to fit. Have you thought about having a coat custom made? Clearly you are prepared to spend a few pounds on it so why not get one made to your measurements?

My favourite winter coat was made by Sumissura which is an online tailor. The fabric is a cashmere/wool blend. The cost is about £240 for a coat in a winter weight fabric with quilted lining which would make it even warmer.

www.sumissura.com/en-uk/women/wool-coat/

[quote utterflapdoodle]I'm a teeny tiny four foot nine so I feel your pain with finding clothes to fit. Have you thought about having a coat custom made? Clearly you are prepared to spend a few pounds on it so why not get one made to your measurements?

My favourite winter coat was made by Sumissura which is an online tailor. The fabric is a cashmere/wool blend. The cost is about £240 for a coat in a winter weight fabric with quilted lining which would make it even warmer.

www.sumissura.com/en-uk/women/wool-coat/[/quote]
OMG, that looks amazing!!! But I need a coat within the next three weeks... presumably they take a lot longer than that? I couldn't find any info on their website about how long the process takes. Any other time I'd totally go for it!

I chose the boyfriend coat from jaeger, yes it is longer than it should (I could probably get it shortened too if it bothered me) but it wasn’t so waist defined plus I have a long body and short legs. It is quite fitted but it didn’t look completely ridiculous except for the sleeves.

Like you, I am very frustrated at the lack of quality petite clothing. All the small sizes in the petite section of Hobbs and Reiss sell out really quickly. Way back in the 80’s there was a fairly decent selection, indeed clothes were a better quality anyway. I remember Hamells Petites, Principles had a good selection and a decent quality before they were taken over, Next was decent quality, Richards Shops (I remember a lovely coat I got from them - wished I kept it!). Not sure what the answer is but a good seamstress does help.

Thank you, I'll have a look at that one. Actually my Precis coat is still in pretty good condition after all these years, although I did have one repair done. Just that I've gained loads of weight and I can't fit into it any more! Those coats really were built to last. It's frustrating, the thing about "investing in good quality clothing that will last for years to come", yeah maybe if your body stays the same size for years to come!

Fenn Wright Manson has good quality petite clothes. No coats in the style you’re seeking right now but worth checking.

j crew petite?

Have you looked on La Redoute website? There seem to be lots of 70% wool
coats in classic styles at the price point you mention. Unfortunately I cannot comment on the quality of specific brands, but someone mode knowledgeable might be able to help.

Live that first coat linked...but ...why is a 5 ft 6" model wearing the petite range ?