I thought about jackets for a very long time, as you might remember, and almost missed the chance to buy some completely. Why does everyone clear out their inventory only halfway through the winter weather?
Anyway, I got an email that there was a coat clearance at Penny's and that the camel coat I linked to in my coat-question post was on sale. So I went to try it on (I'm still not sure about sizing a coat when wearing layers). Of course there were no camel-colored coats there at my store, naturally. But I walked around and fingered all the coats and read their tags to see if there were any 100 % wool coats. (there were not.)
And I kept walking past this one short leather jacket and going, sigh. Now, I know leather jackets are crap for keeping out cold --- I bought a snazzy leather trenchcoat from a thriftstore for 5 bucks so that I could pretend I was Shaft and I couldn't even wear it for winter in CA. But this one had a fuzzy fake fur lining. And I know that when I have the "oo! I love that !" reaction repeatedly about an article of clothing I should probably buy it, since most of the time I am meh.
So I put it on:
And I loved the badass 70s-rockstar shape, and noticed that with the clearance discount it was 50 bucks. I went up a size so that I'd have lots of room around my shoulders and back (you can see the sleeves are too long; maybe I'll get them hemmed) and bought that sucker.
Can you see it has all sorts of interesting rivets and vertical seaming on the front to make it snazzy? It does look better on me unzipped rather than zipped, but it still looks pretty good.
Here's the back with more seaming snazziness. I don't know if this was a total impulse buy or something that has been brewing for a while now, since I've been noticing trendy leather jackets for a few years now and thinking that they looked so cool. But because they are so trendy and fancy colored and covered with shiny stuff (those are the kind I am attracted to, like a magpie to shiny objects), I've always thought, oh, I couldn't wear that in cold weather and I couldn't wear that every day because it would have to go with a very specific type of outfit. But this one seems a bit more classic and I really really like it.
Of course that means no heavy winter coat. Or does it? I didn't like the looks of the black coats I saw, but this one caught my eye as something interesting but not too weird:
I took a bunch of pics of it and it didn't show up very well, sorry. The tag says it is a "military" coat, hence all the buttons (!) and the big greatcollar flaps. And it is a sort of cadet blue, which just drew me to it in a way that none of the other winter coats did. It is double breasted, with a belt. I'm not so sure about the belt, (do I need horizontal lines cutting across me, ever?) but I will probably leave it on to dangle artistically. I can't find a better image of it now on the JCP web site, but here is one by the same company that is kinda similar except that it is entirely different.
And since this coat was down to 80 I decided that I could buy both since together they were the same price as the coat would have been originally. Yeah, I know, I know, you're supposed to use a sale to save money, not to buy more things, but I couldn't help myself. Anyway, I am excited!
And now, since I can, I will leave you with a cat picture:
He is annoyed because my lap is full with another cat. They are so excited to have me back, we are having to do lap-sitting in shifts.
9 comments:
I do not understand why you couldn't locate a pure wool coat. I could even find those in DOU-Town, which is hardly a place in desperate need of such things! (A few months of the year aside, perhaps.) Please tell me that the military coat you got is at least *mostly* wool, since you got seduced by Shaft's jacket! :)
People clear out their inventory halfway through winter weather on the theory that anyone who needed a coat for winter weather would have bought one by then, I think. :-)
Anyway, both of the coats look great!! I especially like the blue - so nice to have a dark color that's not just another black coat.
(I actually find leather coats very warm, especially with a wool scarf. Admittedly, I grew up in New England and lived in Minnesota for 13 years, so I may have slightly different standards of warm/cold than you do.)
Are the sleeves really long, or is that just a camera trick? I usually have trouble finding sleeves long enough to cover my wrists! Glad you found two you like though!
Love both coats; I don't know about leather, but I've been eyeing leather jackets recently. Also, gorgeous cat. Be grateful that they will take lap time. Ms. A. C. Cat insists on shoulder time, and she's really too big for it. (And typing while supporting a cat's bottom is very difficult.)
Apparently it is getting harder to find 100% wool coats (or wool/cashmere) unless you shell out the big bucks. But my fashion industry sister says that the nylon/poly blends of today are better (warmer, sturdier) than they were just a few years ago. And for 80 bucks, that blue coat ROCKS! As does the super cute leather jacket, which soon enough is going to be just fine in your climate.
Awesome purchases!
Cute c(o)ats!
Not at all helpful: I seldom buy coats, but when I do I buy them in February or March, when retailers are desperate to get rid of them. Most recent purchase was a blue (64% wool) trench coat that looks a bit like your blue one. (The fabric is of decidedly poor quality, but you really have to get up in its business to see.) It gets tons of compliments. I, too, was worried about the belt, but it turns out that's the most flattering part. So give horizontal lines a chance.
excellent work, both with the finding and with the buying. I suspect you'll be very happy with them both---they seem to serve very different purposes (e.g., making you look like a rock star vs. making you look like a very fashionable military vixen).
I'm also so surprised that you couldn't find any 100% wool coats during the sales. This is about the time that I bought my first winter coat that first cold winter in Grad City. I also sent out AL to go get himself a warm snow jacket and he said that he found tons of jackets. Hmmm. Maybe it's where you are versus where I am (a place that the whole country would say: isn't it cold?)
As a fellow West Coast-native, I feel I should warn you about the coat obsession that takes most of us. You get at least one coat per year -- and most of them last for a good long time -- and then you have a closet full of winter coats, all necessary, all impossible to get rid of because they are just so fabulous -- and then each doesn't get worn and so they take shifts so they can get an outing.
I have two long coats in the same color (not a neutral color) but very different fabric. That's how bad it is.
Word is promisin. Hmmm.
Mmm, coat obsessions!
You know, even when I looked at everyone online I couldn't find many 100 % wool coats --- not Macy's, not Burlington, JCP or Kohl's. It was odd. There were a couple that were 100% cashmere, but that just sounded ridiculous and way out of my fanciness zone.
And I bought those, came home, and found an email for 50% off clearance coat items at Eddie Bauer. I could really do some damage with this whole coat obsession.
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