Woman's long dress coat
December 6, 2013 5:56 AM Subscribe
Help me find a Christmas present for girlfriend.
I am looking for a dress coat as a Christmas present for my girlfriend.
It needs to a long, warm, dressy, black or dark grey winter coat
Complication: She is 5'1" 100 lbs., size 0
Bonus Points for styles of the 1920's
I am looking for a dress coat as a Christmas present for my girlfriend.
It needs to a long, warm, dressy, black or dark grey winter coat
Complication: She is 5'1" 100 lbs., size 0
Bonus Points for styles of the 1920's
Here's one at Nordstrom, it has a fox collar though.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:11 AM on December 6, 2013
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:11 AM on December 6, 2013
Best answer: JCrew! Their day coats with Thinsulate are very warm, and the quality is excellent - she will wear it for years to come. I linked to an example in Petite; the black only comes in 00 but that sounds like it might be the right size for her (mine is a 0 and I'm a little bigger than she is, their sizing runs a little big).
posted by ella wren at 6:23 AM on December 6, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by ella wren at 6:23 AM on December 6, 2013 [3 favorites]
When you say long, do you mean long enough to totally cover a dress? Or more like over-the-bum long?
posted by fontophilic at 6:26 AM on December 6, 2013
posted by fontophilic at 6:26 AM on December 6, 2013
Oh wait, here's one in Petite, black, size 0: Metro Coat.
posted by ella wren at 6:27 AM on December 6, 2013
posted by ella wren at 6:27 AM on December 6, 2013
Response by poster: To refine the after seeing some of the answers:
Not sure how much I want to spend, certainly no more than $400
No fur, or imitation fur
Long enough to cover a dress, but not to the ground
Not double breasted
That JCrew coat is close, except too short.
posted by falsedmitri at 6:32 AM on December 6, 2013
Not sure how much I want to spend, certainly no more than $400
No fur, or imitation fur
Long enough to cover a dress, but not to the ground
Not double breasted
That JCrew coat is close, except too short.
posted by falsedmitri at 6:32 AM on December 6, 2013
That J. Crew 'Lady Day Coat' will cover a lot of skirts and dresses. But I think clearly you want the J. Peterman Parisian Maxi Coat.
Starts at size 2, but their 2 is a reasonably small, 33" bust, and I'm thinking for a big coat gift splashing out for a little tailoring is worthwhile and...
...and the coat is $98 over your 'certainly no more' budget. Oops. Okay, given the specs, I think you would have excellent luck with vintage.
Going out and buying a well-made dress coat is not what it once was. 'Fast fashion' means a lot of disposable coats made from crummy fabrics at the low and middle price ranges, and that the few nice coats still on the market are extremely expensive. Overall cheapness means finding a really long coat (or wide, or anything else that uses a lot of fabric) is not that common, at least at accesible price points.
But if you're looking at vintage you can do pretty well for under $100, a price which would leave you able to pay extra for tailoring or even for a new lining if needed. And people used to be smaller, which means a lot of vintage is in very small sizes, and often the now less common smaller sizes are a very good deal because there's a glut, relatively speaking.
posted by kmennie at 7:13 AM on December 6, 2013
Starts at size 2, but their 2 is a reasonably small, 33" bust, and I'm thinking for a big coat gift splashing out for a little tailoring is worthwhile and...
...and the coat is $98 over your 'certainly no more' budget. Oops. Okay, given the specs, I think you would have excellent luck with vintage.
Going out and buying a well-made dress coat is not what it once was. 'Fast fashion' means a lot of disposable coats made from crummy fabrics at the low and middle price ranges, and that the few nice coats still on the market are extremely expensive. Overall cheapness means finding a really long coat (or wide, or anything else that uses a lot of fabric) is not that common, at least at accesible price points.
But if you're looking at vintage you can do pretty well for under $100, a price which would leave you able to pay extra for tailoring or even for a new lining if needed. And people used to be smaller, which means a lot of vintage is in very small sizes, and often the now less common smaller sizes are a very good deal because there's a glut, relatively speaking.
posted by kmennie at 7:13 AM on December 6, 2013
Try this, it's on sale and comes in different colors as well as in petite sizes. And WARM, And lifetime warranty. You've said not double-breasted, but it's a classic style. Give it a gander. In any case, I also suggest cashmere because it will be light and very warm. The tighter the weave, the warmer the coat. If you do a little digging, you can find good cashmere in your price range. Happy Shopping!
posted by Yellow at 7:29 AM on December 6, 2013
posted by Yellow at 7:29 AM on December 6, 2013
(Lands' End -- also the one at the Nordstrom link -- is totally not within OP's size requirements; this is the case with a huge number of stores. All-cashmere coats are normally rarities starting at $1k? And delicate to boot)
posted by kmennie at 7:38 AM on December 6, 2013
posted by kmennie at 7:38 AM on December 6, 2013
Take a look at some of the coats modeled in Extra Petite - the blogger is about your girlfriend's size (or smaller). I don't think I've seen the blogger wearing any maxi-length coats, but the pictures should give you an idea of what some of the suggested coats, such as the J. Crew one, actually look like on a very petite person. She also has a list of petite friendly brands, which will help narrow down your search.
posted by needled at 7:54 AM on December 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by needled at 7:54 AM on December 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
The textured coatigan fits your requirements, and comes in a petite size 2, which might work because generally I find Boden sizes run small.
My mom actually owns a jacket that's exactly what you are describing, which she got during her college years in London in the 70's, so I'll agree with kmennie that vintage might be the way to go.
posted by tinymegalo at 4:25 PM on December 6, 2013
My mom actually owns a jacket that's exactly what you are describing, which she got during her college years in London in the 70's, so I'll agree with kmennie that vintage might be the way to go.
posted by tinymegalo at 4:25 PM on December 6, 2013
I like that Boden coat as posted by tinymegalo.
Here's a coat in size 2 (no size 0) at Macy's: Anne Klein Coat
Here is another one by Jones New York at Macy's, also in size 2.
Neither is double-breasted, neither has fur, let alone an entire dead animal on its shoulders. If your girlfriend isn't going to try the coat on first I'd strongly advise against vintage if vintage means No Returns.
posted by DMelanogaster at 5:34 PM on December 6, 2013
Here's a coat in size 2 (no size 0) at Macy's: Anne Klein Coat
Here is another one by Jones New York at Macy's, also in size 2.
Neither is double-breasted, neither has fur, let alone an entire dead animal on its shoulders. If your girlfriend isn't going to try the coat on first I'd strongly advise against vintage if vintage means No Returns.
posted by DMelanogaster at 5:34 PM on December 6, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by schroedingersgirl at 6:07 AM on December 6, 2013