The Search For The Perfect Camel Coat Continues

I have a little wish list on my phone of key items I feel I'm missing in my wardrobe.  It's not particularly glamorous (a grey sweatshirt being one of them!) but long standing is a decent camel coloured coat.  I tried a fair old few last year and nothing ticked all the boxes.  I am short, it can't be too long.  I want some wool in it so it's warm and doesn't bobble and last more than a few wears.  I want a good shade of camel and low and behold, I want it to fit me well.  So when H&M sent me an email with one from their 'Conscious' collection with 58% wool at £59.99 (then there was a 25% code off and free delivery making it £44.99), this felt like a no brainer.  I honestly didn't deliberate long, which is rare for me.  It took 5 days to arrive - I was beyond excited.  Especially as they actually had it in a size 6 (I am petite up top but just for the record, I also wear 8's & 10's) which for some reason, not a lot of their clothes are available in online.  

Um hello size 6 coat that you could wrap around me twice (ok, slight exaggeration).  Gutted wouldn't have even cut it.  I think I would even have side tracked the fact it was darker than I wanted if it had fitted me well but no, it was majorly to big, to dark and fairly thin.  

So if you're a size 10, buy the 6 - that's if you don't mind it being a dark shade of camel.  I loved the style, I had actually planned outfits around it already.  That will teach me for being ahead of my game.  

The picture below is it online - definitely a lighter shade than what arrived.  Sometimes I do despair at sizing.  I would quite happily put myself forward for a fit model.  I'm just not sure how they could get it so wrong.  

That being said, if you get the sizing right, H&M still have some good offerings - especially when they have coats on sale right now.  This shorter wrap style below is 50% wool and now £41.99.  See here.  

You can't go wrong with a biker style leather jacket.  This is from their premium range and reduced with 40% off down to £83.99.  See here. 

So I'm back on the hunt for a camel coat.  I ordered one from ASOS last year but was again, really disappointed in the sizing and quality.  I've seen the below and am fairly tempted.  I'm not a huge ASOS shopper but everyone else seems to do really well out of them so feel I should perhaps give them another go.  This one is reduced to £63.50 with 77% wool.  Somethings stopping me though - probably the luck I've had so far and the bother of having to package it back up and return it via the postoffice (and the usually long queue to do so!).

I've seen this Hush coat below featured on a few blogs now and I love it.  I'm just not sure I can justify the £190 price tag right now even though it has the best fibre composition I've seen in a long while - 93% wool, 6% cashmere and 1% polyamide.  Now that's what I'm talking about - go Hush!  One to watch in the sales quite possibly.  

I think perhaps I need to spend some time hitting the shops for me and have a really good mooch around (t's all about the clients and the kids these days!). Has anyone else come up with a great version that ticks all their boxes or am I not alone on this front?

The Sales Are In Full Swing....

And I've been ordering away online, I can't quite stop myself now and have gone over my birthday money budget in the hope (and also knowing how fussy I am) that half of what i've ordered won't fit!  But to start with, the boot in my post here, damn it they've gone down to £57 and they still have my size......what to do, what to do.  I haven't stopped thinking about them and what I can wear with them so I think I may call tomorrow and reserve them to pick up this week.

The Chinti and Parker top also in this post has now sold out, so that's that decision made (was also told it looked like a pj top by the husband and that did put me off slightly).  My quest for a cashmere hoody has been a long one so when I saw two on sale, I ordered both.  The Next one I'm not holding out much hope for as I reckon the stock will have gone by the time they despatch but it was worth a shot.  It was over £100 down to £39 in grey, no image even left on their website!  The pink Whistles one may be too pale but again, giving it a go as both free delivery so nothing lost there. 

£195 down to £60 (and now sold out via HoF from yesterday!)

Next currently have this lovely Whistles jumper left in their clearance.  It is 70% wool 30% cashmere.  I was tempted but I have a pink cashmere jumper already so I'm refraining from a double pink in the wardrobe. 

£145 down to £50

After searching around to see if the pink cashmere Whistles hoody was a good buy, I stumbled across this Whistles dress in Asos.  I have a wedding in a few weeks and although I have some outfits in the pipeline and wasn't planning on purchasing a new dress, I thought I'd give this one a go as I fell in love with the unusual print.  I have a very old silk Whistles dress that I bought for the exact same reason, I like it when the print is just that little bit different. 

£155 down to £51 via Asos

And whilst I have a bit of a jumper thing going on, I thought I'd share with you my bargain jumper I found in the Charing Cross TK Maxx on my birthday.  It is Marc by Marc Jacobs and was £45 from over £100.  I questioned it to start with as I thought it was a little retro for me but the more I looked at it, the more I loved it.

Camel Coats

It's been a while since I've done a research post so here goes with one on camel coats.  It's a bit of a hole I've only just noticed for some reason.  I have a grey coat and a black/tan animal coat as far as wool coats go so I've managed fine previously.  However both are pretty old now (you know when you really love a coat and it just lives in your wardrobe then one day you realise it is a tad tatty?) so I've been keeping an eye open.  My need for wool though seems to be a issue.  Goodness I hate a cheap coat that bobbles after one season, I buy to last.  Struggling.com but my findings so far;

My inspiration but it may be a little long for me and this is over my budget but I love how it is smart yet worn casually.

Topshop £195 

Being short I am tempted to go for a pea coat style and like this one at Uniqlo but it's only 33% wool, I need more than that for warmth as well as being obsessed with a good fibre composition (regular readers know I wear thermals and friends know I wear a vest pretty much all year round!).

Uniqlo £69.90

A duffle style from House of Fraser, but I'm not too sure on the actual duffle bit as I think it makes it too casual for what I'm after but it's 56% wool so not bad.

Therapy at House of Fraser £69.30

I love everything about this ASOS coat which I saw on Anna from Vivianna Does Makeup but sadly it's out of stock.  A fair price and at 74% wool I'm not surprised it's sold out.  Come on ASOS, get it back in again!

ASOS £85

I am a huge M&S fan so I naturally checked them out.  A little too girly for me and only 44% wool for nearly £100 so it wouldn't cut it in my boat. 

M&S £89

Getting closer with John Lewis and this Precis Petite coat which is £179 down to £89.  70% wool, 20% polyamide and 10% cashmere - now that's better! If only the fur collar was removable I would possibly give it a go.

Precis Petite £89

And just in case anyone's after a grey coat, I think this is gorgeous from Mango and 62% wool for £69.99 (sign up to their newsletter, they are always doing 20/30/40% off promotions).

So who has a camel/tan wool coat with a great wool content for under £100 - do share please!  I feel I will wait until the sales now anyway!

PS The hubby has just pointed out that I don't have a 'hole' in my wardrobe for one, I don't need a coat in every single colour......um yeah but it's a staple colour right?!?  What does he know!

My Wedding Outfit In The Sun!

The big day came and went in a flash and thank goodness the rain held off until the meal and we were all under canopies.  It was my first ever beach wedding and it was amazingly beautiful.  Being by the sea is one of my favourite things to do so to have it as the back drop whilst watching my cousin get married was a very surreal experience.  I was so pleased with my bargain £20 dress from Topshop, it was comfortable and cool to wear and my sandals were perfect - after all that indecisiveness!  I accessorised with items I already had, I love it when an outfit comes together like that.  The clutch was a gift from my Sister many Christmas's ago from Faith.  I spied it as it was all suede (which I love).  My necklace was from Matalan and as it was fairly large I kept my rings and earrings simple and just added a pearl bracelet by Thomas Sabo.

The one thing I had completely over looked was my hair - and that heat, oh that heat!  Think Monica from that episode in Friends a few hours later.  No amount of hair and sea salt spray was going to sort it so I pinned a few bits back and forgot about it.

I couldn't let this post go live without sharing a few snaps of the stunning wedding party.  I know as a Mummy we are all bias but my little angels looked so grown up and scattered those rose petals with such pride they made me a very proud Mum.  Their dresses were found in the Summer sale at Debenhams half price at £24.50 and were by John Rocha. 

(PS their Doodles did come off for the ceremony....)

The Maid of Honour looked gorgeous in her peach gown.  It looked even better in the flesh and I thought it was a designer, something from Temperley I asked?  Um no, Asos - WOW!  Great job Asos, really really well designed and made, it looked a million dollars. 

And finally, the 'piece de resistance', my beautiful cousin.  Flawless H, utterly flawless.

The necklace was hand made especially for her by a relative, how gorgeous is it cascading down her back

Back to the UK with a bang; loads of washing, work, cold weather and a toddler that is struggling with jet lag and the time adjustment.  But hell, it was worth it!

My New Coat

Hello to all my loyal readers and any new ones, welcome.  Thank you for dropping by again, I know it's been a while since I've posted.  Another 4 weeks left of my contract in London and after a lovely break in Spain (more on that in another post) I am playing catch up this week-end and drafting lots of posts.

If any of you remember, I was madly 'in love' with the above Zara coat.  For some reason (probably time if I'm honest) something stopped me from checking out with it in my basket.  I started to regret it when I saw the below in a magazine, thinking how much 'on trend' it was.  However, luckily the newly refurbished store opened in Knightsbride, phew, and I found it in the back corner of the shop.  I pushed the tourists out of the way as I saw my size (ruthless) and grabbed it to try on.  I wasn't allowed to take any photos but straight to the point, it wasn't worth writing home about.  It wasn't meant to be mine after all, I am a firm believer in fate.  For £99.99 I expect quiet a lot and it didn't deliver.  It was a very thin fabric, more an off white than a sharp fresh one, un-lined and literally hung at the back like a sack.  I am petite and I had seen it on a taller lady so  maybe I'm being a little harsh on the item but needless to say, I was pleased I hadn't wasted my time ordering it and having to return it by post.

I was even more happy as I had been naughty a few weeks earlier and sort of impulsively bought a Barbour.  Not to impulsive as that one had been on my wish list for over a year but in that I had about 10 minutes to commit with a no returns option (250 miles away from home in their outlet store and it was about to close!).  I had both my parents with me, both Barbour advocates and owners who insisted it was a timeless investment piece. It was £229 down to £129 and a Limited Edition Liberty print (Limited Edition always wins with me).  And to be fair to my folks, it was worn within 48 hours, which is always a good sign.  The quality is outstanding and I am pleased to say I was kept fully dry!  My only grumble is that I can't wash it - arrrgh, with two kids what on earth am I supposed to do with a dirty coat?  Any Barbour owners with advice, please do share!

Me trying to do a back shot!

Not exactly 'The Black Dress' that the hanger suggests

On that note, a friend of mine is on the look out for a Mac style coat.  I confess I am a bit of a coat collector (my husband fears it is over taking shoes but not handbags).  My Mac was bought from Tommy Hilfiger in Bicester Village a few years ago for £100, another amazing buy and fully washable!  The leather trims on the belts are all detachable.  Here are a few available on the high street now.

My Tommy coat

Classic style from M&S £45, simple black piped edging add's a little something extra

If you prefer a single breasted style, why not try this rose colour from Miss Selfridge £65

Asos do a great contrast sleeve style for £75

If you want to go darker, Gap have this navy option for £59.95

House of Fraser have a great range in, including this classic cropped version from Warehouse at £60

A Twist on a Christmas Party Dress

A client came over to show me her great find at Coast in Bicester Village.  She wasn't initially sure, however upon trying on properly at home and not being so rushed, realised and rightly so what a little gem this item was.  The dress is called Mathilde and was reduced to £90 from £160.  What I love about this dress is that it is sleek and classic from the front then twisted at the back with this amazing extra panel which really changes the traditional side of the dress.  It has a great shape and looked even better on.  We talked about adding something else to give it a bit of a lift in colour, purely because she is going to wear back tights and shoe boots (to give it more of a modern edge).  After trying on various necklace shapes with it, a bold bib style definitely worked the best.  So she was off to find a silver version to add that Christmas sparkle.  And judging by the pictures she's sent me, didn't she do well!  Well done T, you are learning and thinking more about your outfits as well as investment pieces that can work again and again.

Asos and John Lewis are still stocking this dress at slightly more than the outlet at Bicester Village

I love this extra panel, it looks so chic

A sparkly clutch also from Coast, £55 down to £35

I love this one from FCUK and believe this is her winner!

A slightly different style from Next, go with the other one T!

I, on the other hand have been let down by an online order having been sent the wrong sized dress and what I did order is no longer available, mentioning no names!  So I have less than a week to put my party outfit together, a rush yet again.  I really should start listening to my own advice with pre-planning these things.  I have too many birthdays and parties straight after Christmas which take up valuable pre Christmas time.  Wish me luck!