a/w wish list {the coat list}

the coat list by ephemerette featuring a leopard coat

Burberry prorsum coats NAVY, 1,495 GBP
Petite Leopard Fur Coat, $190
The Cape, $389
Rick Owens Wool-flannel coat, $1,935
raimond light, $1,869

There's nothing like the turn of the season from Summer(ish) to Autumn to get me interested in clothes again, some type of back to school' alert goes off in my head and sends me into an overdrive to try to perfect a capsule wardrobe for the season. Perhaps it's something to do with the opportunity to start wearing proper clothes again after the summer spent wearing insubstantial layers. So coats.  I love coats. I have a cupboard full of them, such an easy way to add polish to whatever you're wearing, and with London's Jekyll and Hyde weather patterns it's necessary to have a few options to go with dependent on conditions and temperature.

Here's a little edit of the styles I'm going for this season.

Firstly, The Minimal (far left) I'm really taken with the pared down look this season, I like the clean lines of this coat from Rick Owens, I also spotted Stella McCartney has some beautiful minimal cuts too - I already have a couple of clean lined numbers which I'll be dusting off.

Next, The Leopard. For my sins I've been a long term fan of leopard skin, I've lost count of the number of things I have in this print, such a great way to add a bit of a cheeky edge to the dullest of outfits, I have a short fur Topshop swing jacket from a few seasons ago which I keep promising to retire but I doubt I'll be able to resist giving it another whirl till I find an appropriate replacement as I'm fussy about the print and fabric with leopard print - get it wrong and you'll end up looking very cheap.

Third, The Military. I don't think military style really ever goes out of style, it does seem to reappear every year in a different way. I like the dress shape and brassy hard wear on this Burberry Prorsum number. Again I already have a neat double breasted bouclé coat in this style which I'd bought for some bargain price in the sales last year and swapped the plastic buttons it came with for some brass ones which gave the whole coat a face lift.

Lastly, The Cape. The only style I'm going to have to lay out for once I've found the perfect one at my price point. I think Liberty London Girl recommended this Isabella Oliver double breasted cape recently, and I think it's a perfect example of what I'll be looking for. There's a glut of cape shaped wear available at the moment, but most of it is leaning towards being super unstructured and casual rather than tailored which would be my own preference as I think for my 5 foot stature there's a strong danger of getting lost under too much voluminous fabric. I'd prefer to achieve a neater shape so I'll be keeping an eye out  for a well tailored wool version for myself. In the mean time I have a sweet knitted capelet which I've been slinging on regularly recently to keep the morning and evening chills away as I commute to and from work.