Coat season is officially open...

Don't have much time to gab today, darlings... Slave-driving clients cracking the horse-hide, God love 'em.

But isn't it just too exciting? Coat season is here! I almost feel sorry for those in warmer climes...almost.

Here's a sampling to whet your appetite. If you like the merch you see below, be sure to peruse the wonderful sites of the purveyors to the derecha.

Now: what kind of coat girl are you?

Trench Wench?


Not rain nor sleet nor snow can bring you down when you're wearing a yellow plaid wool trench coat, honey. It's that perfect.

Note the great high collar...sometimes trenches operate in a strange nether-region where the top button is chokingly high and the next one down is chest-chillingly low. This one looks just perfect, the top buttons hit in the very flattering mid-chest zone, and there's a cute little notched lapel to boot.




This great 60s trench is mod-tacular. The lines are so timeless, it could just as easily be the work of one of today's hip young designers. And fit?! This coat has it in spades.

Now let me give you my brownschpeil. The colour of this coat may be the only thing that gives away its vintage provenance. Some people hate brown, particularly the warm orangey-browns of the 60s and 70s. I understand completely: the truth is, not everyone can wear this colour. It also has slightly militaristic overtones. Now I'm not looking to start a debate, but please, give brown a chance sometime. Maybe it will work for you and maybe it won't--but it doesn't hurt to try. And brown has been such a popular colour throughout recent sartorial history that you can miss out on some great vintage clothing ops if you dismiss it out of hand.




Rowrr baby! Be the hunter and the hunted in this great vinyl tiger trench. Grrrrr....








Maladjusted Rock Star?



Need to trash your hotel room, throw a drug-induced hissy fit at your video shoot, then storm off to find yourself something to help you come down before the ludes wear off? This coat was designed precisely for these purposes.










...or if you're a little bit preppy, a little bit rock 'n roll, you could live out your rock star fantasies in relative safety in this great raspberry suede jacket. (The wide lapels will ratchet up your street cred.)






Lady Preppy VonModster?



If you fall slightly on the mod side of lady, leaning approximately four degrees south of preppy, you may like a plaid coat like this 60s number. I love the bizarre proportions the huge pockets give to the midsection area, and the huge buttons are fab. Great timeless colours too.








Diamonds are a girl's best friend, after all. If you're going to bother with a black coat, Safety Conservapants, why not go one better and make it textured? The raised diamond pattern on this great little lady coat gives it lots of interest while maintaining the sought-after neutrality of black.










Who needs a mink fedora? Why, you do, silly. I'm not normally a supporter of carcass-sporting, but this poor creature's been skittering around the green pastures of animal heaven for a good 60 years now. Surely we can at least honour its memory by, uh, wearing its beatiful pelt on our heads? Non?




And the perfect companion to a furdora? A hot little cropped wool number with a (faux) fur collar.

Related: 3/4-length coat sleeves--love 'em or leave 'em? I recently purchased a little black cropped coat like this with 3/4-length sleeves. It's adorable, but my forearms have been all ashiver ever since. What to do, what to do. I tried long green leather gloves--not so much. Then I tried fingerless wool gloves--a little too 'bag lady.' So I'm on the hunt for the perfect pair of opera-length gloves. Of course I'll be sure to share my findings...