The following just in from the comments on a previous post:
Hello everyone — it’s me again — Sarah. I need help! Having seen a super-stylish woman in Topshop, I find myself wanting to buy the coat she was wearing. “Wanting” is hardly a strong enough word to describe the feeling, actually. On the positive (”good excuse”) side, I have golden blonde hair and have been wanting to find a coat and shoes and boots in my hair color, as suggested by Rebecca, and the woman’s coat was definitely in that spectrum.
But on the negative side –
(1) It is rather thick and furry faux leopard skin (OTOH, thick = warm – good)
(2) Will leopard skin be as OUT next year as it is in this winter?
(3) I think that I look best in slim, or at least waist-cinching attire, but this coat is……. quite a wide swing coat hitting at the upper thigh!!! It is the ultimate triangle shape! How can I possibly want it or think it will look good on me?
(4) The girl I saw was very tall, whereas I am not. She looked good because of her endless legs.
(5) The girl I saw was wearing black flat (yeay!) ankle boots and what looked like either black leggings or thick black tights. No other clothing was visible. It looked good on her, but she had very dark hair and black footwear. Whatever would I myself be able to wear it with? I have been unable to think of other ways to wear it, and that seems terribly limiting.
Is this insanity not another example of my misquidedly being psychologically swayed by current fads? Would I think that girl stylish if she were wearing that some other time, when triangle-shaped swing coats were not in fashion? Somehow I doubt it. But there it is: to me, now, she looked fabulously stylish and I want to copy her look. You can see that I need help, can’t you?
In my defence, I should perhaps mention that I have not actually tried on the coat yet, and this season I have rejected as unflattering to me several trends (fads, I’d say) deemed essential for this season on another excellent blog I read. So it might be that the moment I try on said coat the full horror of the bulky faux fur triangle (possibly 9 months pregnant?) swing coat will hit me, but what I can’t understand is — why hasn’t it hit me already, given that I am fully aware of the tendency to be swayed by current fashions? I know it intellectually but I don’t yet FEEL it, if tyou know what I mean? Eek!
Duchesse responds:
Sarah: You have described a common phenomenon: falling in love with someone else’s look- and trying to copy it. (Which is how I once bought a trench coat that made me look like a sack of potatoes.)
First, the good news: swing coats flatter everyone (if they are not too big and end at the right length for your build.) Leopard is classic, always conveying a slightly eccentric, quirky attitude. Though some season it’s especially in, it’s never really “out”.
Now the bad news: You will not look like her. Even if you too were very tall, had legs for miles and hair the same colour, you will not look like her. But short blondes can wear leopard. You DO have to keep the clothes and shoes simple or risk looking like a bag lady.
So try on your leopard and if you like it, buy it. But make it your own. Perhaps with red gloves.
Finally, make sure you have another winter coat (one from past years is fine). You can tire of wearing an animal print. When I had a leopard swing coat it was such fun to wear, but not every day.
What are your thoughts? Should Sarah buy the leopard swing coat?
If she likes what she sees when she looks in the mirror wearing the coat, and thinks she will wear it, absolutely!
I say, go try one on for yourself and find out how wonderful or horrible it looks on you. If it looks good, makes you happy, and is acceptable to your budget, go for it. (Isn’t animal print one of those things that is always sort of IN even when it’s not trendy?)
I agree with the above… If she tries it and likes it (an can afford it!) then why not?!
And I totally know how it feels to “fall in love with the look of another.” There’s this girl in my church that has great style. I totally envy her style, and find myself asking on occasion “what would Erika wear?” But I’m finding that the styles she pulls off are not necessarily ones I could pull off. But – wow – I’d sure like to look like her.
I tried on the coat… but the size that fit correctly on my shoulders was much too tight across the top front, as though it were designed for someone completely flat-chested. I tried larger sizes but the one that felt right across my front looked ridiculously big everywhere else, and actually it lost its swingy shape at the larger (much larger) size, so I did not buy it. I still have a hankering for such a coat, though, and am considering making one myself, if I can find suitable faux fur fabric. The color, which was slightly more golden than the one pictured above, really looks good with my hair color. In the meantime I bought a short beige trench coat which fits to the waist then flares out in an A-line, which looks fabulous despite having cost only US$14! Of course it is not warm like the swing coat but I had been looking for a trench style coat for years and had never found one I liked until now.
Well, Sarah, I’m glad you tried it on and I think that’s awesome that you are considering making one. I hope you find the fabric! Congratulations finding a great trench for a great price. 🙂