Vogue reckons coats are the centrepiece to every winter wardrobe and do you know what, I agree with those fashionable folk. Hence why, coat shopping for me, can be quite stressful – there’s a lot riding on this popular, seasonal purchase.

If you follow me over on Instagram, you’ll already know my coat-shopping-woes (first world problems, I know!) It’s been a bit of a quest purely because, this year, I was looking for something a little bit off-beat. However, everything I tried on seemed to be either quite classic in shape, camel in colour or checked (there are like HUNDREDS of houndstooth styles out there!) And there’s nothing wrong with any of these coats if that’s what you’re looking for…

And after months or deliberating, I FI-NAL-LY found it in Mango. They’ve currently got stock of both the pink version and this one online at the moment – but be QUICK! Priced at £79.99, I bought mine in their Regents Street store and literally had to follow a woman around the shop until she put what was the last XS size down. Dedication, innit!

THE TEDDY COAT

The teddy coat is big news this winter. Blame Burberry. Their off-white shearling belted coat seen here will set you back – wait for it – £3995! YIKES, Scooby!

Let’s start dreaming, OK? If I win the Euromillions (Gah! The amount of times I have SAID. THIS!) I’d definitely buy it (and also one for my Mum!) And then, to hell with it, I’d also go all out with this over-sized belted turquoise number too (£4495) And then, I’d buy all my besties the cuddly pale pink single breasted one (£1595)  Ah, you’ve gotta dream, right?

And.

Now.

We’re back in the room!

HAPPY FASHION

I flirt between two mantras when it comes to my personal style. The first is to never mess with the classics. By that I mean breton tops, back to business blazers, a good slouchy white shirt, great fitting jeans – that kinda timeless mush that’s forever in fashion. And then, the second is to have FUN!

Whether it’s a little bit of devilish detail here or an enormous character phone case there (say ‘Hi’ to Barry, my Barca’ lobster) I blame the zodiac – I’m a Leo – so I’m an attention seeker at the best of times. Ha!

This colour-blocking-rocking coat most definitely fans the latter philosophy, right? But as well as ticking the AW17 trend boxes (teddy coat, colour blocking, faux fur, eclectic, graphic lines) it’s actually pretty practical too. Now, when I say practical, I’m talking school runs, meetings in town and coffee catch ups. I don’t mean it in the sense that I’m about to trek around Narnia or ‘practical’ in the way that, say, Mr Husband would shop for a coat.  Youknowwhatimean, right?

I love the contrast sleeves in cobalt blue and the pop of yellow is so striking. No doubt, it will serve to brighten up even the bleakest of grey, wintry days. Plus the silver buckle tie is a little bit interesting too. All in all, I’d safely say, it’s a definite FT buy and those that know me, I think, will probably agree…

BUY LESS AND WELL

So there you have it, my WOW winter coat is in the bag. I challenged myself to only buy eight items of clothing in October as part of my #october8edit hashtag over on Instagram. After a successful go at #nospendseptember it didn’t seem right to then splurge on stuff  the moment the clock stuck Oct’. I’m pleased to report that this was my eighth purchase in October *claps hands excitedly like Louis on the X Factor. However, I did add a ninth on the penultimate day of the month thanks to the 25% sale at TU at Sainsbury’s and a must-buy pair of jeans that came in at just a TENNER. (I only went in to buy carving pumpkins!)

Anyways, before I digress, I’ll leave you to now ponder on your purchase – or maybe you’ve already got your winter coat sorted? I’d love to know what you’ve gone for, pop a comment below. Or are you bringing out last years favourite?

Every winter for the past six to seven years now, I’ve been bringing back out my pale pink, wool coat from Betty Jackson at Designers at Debenhams. I still love it, so my advice is that it’s definitely worth spending the time to find the right coat for you and your budget. Let’s face it, we’ve got a long winter ahead, right?

Happy shopping and as always, thank you for reading

F.T.

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