The Perfect Coat : Dress Ratio

Burberry Porsum a/w 09/10
Perfect Coat to Skirt Ratio

Burberry Porsum a/w 09/10

Perfect Coat to Skirt Ratio

Although this has been one of our coldest winters in decades I still feel as though age has taken away my ability to block out the cold the way I used to. It was only a year or two ago that me and my friends would go to the clubs dressed in the tiniest of dresses with the tiniest of jackets and would brave the cold for sheer vanity. Now – I physically cannot. I mean I will still wear a dress bare legged in the snow – in fact I did that! But, I wore a three quarter length black Burberry Mac, which although is actually for the summer season proves to be much warmer than any cropped or waist length jacket that I would have donned years ago. In my attempt to wear jeans as little as possible, my Mac (well, like most of the expensive things I wear actually belongs to my mum) has proven to be the essential jacket for my evenings. Mac’s are the ideal coat to wear over a dress, there’s nothing that I hate more than to see a dress hanging out beneath a jacket or coat, unless it is an actual look – like a fitted jumper dress with an open leather biker jacket, or a small cropped jacket with a puff ball skirt – I suppose my point is unless the jacket is short enough it can just look a disaster. For example a jacket that just reaches the mid thighs being worn with a dress or skirt that meets the knees – OH NO!!! There is nothing worst than seeing a skirt gathering around the legs because the coat isn’t the right length or cut for the dress - the thought of this makes me cringe. You could have the most amazing coat on and be wearing the most beautiful dress, but this combination just murders the whole look. Of course, for some a coat is just to keep you warm – but I suppose a person with such an attitude would not be reading an article called The Killer Coat (unless it was about fur!) I believe that in most cases a coat should cover the dress or if not should be the right shape or cut for the dress. Smock coats over skirts and dresses are also a complete no- no. They shorten the body, make you look top heavy and do not balance out the body. Smocks need to be worn only with skin tight jeans or trousers. If you’re tall enough and fairly skinny then possibly you could wear a smock with boyfriend jeans. I would very rarely wear baggy garments on the upper and lower part of the body in one outfit.
It is hard to find a universal coat, one that can be worn for the evenings and day time, worn with long and short dresses and skirts, baggy or skin tight jeans, ankle boots or knee boots! If I was rich I’d have a huge collection of designer coats; Fay and Burberry would be rife in my dream coat wardrobe. Back to reality!!!! - Carrie Bradshaw (yes I am going to use a fictional character – it’s for fashions sake) always managed to get the coat and dress/skirt thing right. Watch a few Sex and The City’s and I’m sure you’ll agree. She does at times get it wrong, but she gets the coat thing...
Considering most of us aren’t Carrie Bradshaw, don’t have a stylist and an endless wardrobe I advise investing in a Mac. A real Mac – not these Macs that you find that have three quarter length sleeves and just about sit on your knees. I’m talking about a Mac that allows you to make a statement without needing to see any of your outfit beneath it, with a sharp collar, the right size lapels, belted cuffs and belted cinched in waist. The queen of the Mac is the Burberry Mac, of course they retail full price around the £700 mark, but in the sale these Macs go down almost 50% and trust me will last you a lifetime! I own a thirty year old Burberry Mac - it’s a classic, you can go into Burberry and buy it all year round. Of course thirty years ago a Burberry Mac cost £400!!! The Mac has one cracked button, the stitching of the buttons so tight that the button cracked instead of falling off! Other than that, it still has the exact same buttons and same stitching it did when it left the store. High quality Macs from high street stores in order, I would recommend French Connection (Best quality/ fairly expensive), Karen Millen (good quality/ acute attention to detail/ most expensive) Topshop (reasonably priced/ average quality/ trendy) Zara (reasonably priced/ average quality/ classic)!!!

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