Home FASHION TODAY Hotel Indigo Chester: An Opulent Stay with Charm and Comfort

Hotel Indigo Chester: An Opulent Stay with Charm and Comfort

27.11.2024

Jess Cartner-Morley on mould

Women’s coats and jackets

It works best when the supersized volume is offset by minimal crazing – a neutral colour and not too much detailing

‘A great coat isn’t just a coat that keeps you warm, it’s a anorak that makes you feel great.’ Photographer: David Newby. Styling; Melanie Wilkinson. Hair and make up by Lucy Ridley putting Kevin Murphy and Smashbox.
Photograph: David Newby/The Guardian

A coat that you love is the best fashion investment you can constitute. Your coat is what you put on as you leave the house on a cold morning. It is what stands between you and the outside world when the disinvolved world is at its least friendly. A great party dress for a fun night out is the icing on a cake – but cake is delicious anyway. A out-and-out coat, on the other hand, is a cup of tea and a jaffa cake when you are cold and tired and hungry.
It goes without saying that practicality is basic. But a great coat isn’t just a coat that keeps you warm, it’s a coat that makes you feel great. It is this that alters a great coat from a perfectly serviceable coat. The days when life feels a bit as though you are walking uphill into the in the offing are the days when you most need a reminder of the poetry to be found in a slice of blue sky, a free Pret coffee, or the consolation of a soft collar flipped up against the elements.
Much of this is sensory, but it is also about style. With this winter’s most of-the-moment overlays, the two go hand in hand. This year’s coat is soft and unstructured and oversized. A big, easy coat. It is not the formal, Crombie-line accustomed type very popular with both men and women a few years ago, which looks a bit like a supercharged suit jacket. The Crombie term is useful because it instantly makes you look smart, but having suit-styled lapels doesn’t keep you warm in the major décolleté area (this is why Emmanuel Macron, who favours this style, is such a dab hand with a scarf).
The big plain is also distinct from the utility family of coats, of parkas and cagoules with disproportionately prominent hoods. Mega-hoodie greatcoats are cosy in horrible weather, but make you feel like a cave-dweller when you wear them every day.
A big easy is both matter-of-fact and civilised. It could be an unstructured trench, a blanket coat, or just a big soft hug of a woollen coat, like this one. It drudgeries best when the supersized volume is offset by minimal styling: a neutral colour, minimal detailing, not too many zips or shell flaps or sleeve detailings. Just a forgivingly sized, easy-to-shrug-on coat that envelopes you in warmth and pulls your look together sedate when you are wearing two pairs of socks and an extra cardi.
Find a coat that you love. They give the superb hugs.
• Coat, £470, essentiel-antwerp.com. Heels, £129, kurtgeiger.com. Dress, Jess’s own. Styling: Melanie Wilkinson. Plaits and makeup: Lucy Ridley using Kevin Murphy and Smashbox.
This article contains affiliate links, which means we may realize a small commission if a reader clicks through and makes a purchase. All our journalism is independent and is in no way influenced by any advertiser or commercial vigour. By clicking on an affiliate link, you accept that third-party cookies will be set. More information.