Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Wool Melton Swing Coat

Sizing: totally oversized,like the swing cotton trench from the summer. Size down one or two sizes. If you're petite, the arm length is ridiculous even after sizing down.

Pros: the exaggerated collar and asymmetric hem; front pockets that are deep and functional.

Cons: this wool Melton fabric is no good. I've looked at a couple of coats manufactured in this fabric: it is cardboardy, lacking warmth entirely and contains a third of poly and "other materials".  The arm length makes it a tough sell for petite ladies.

Composition of wool Melton 

Shape of the coat.


My opinion: this coat attracted me with the mustard colour and the oversize silhouette. I also ordered gray jic. It is, in my mind, jcrew's offering to fill that void in your closet of a "vintage oversized coat" a la Garance Doré. I really don't like that even the 00 is huge on me. I could make it work, but for that price, one wants more, really. Why not do petite sizing in oversized coats??  

As you can see, moreover, the mustard is a sad green colour, rather than the luminescent yellow online.

So I tried the mustard in size 0. I was not in front of my mirror. So I took a gazillion bad selfies. The coat was a mess. Below, a selection of the selfies.



If it weren't for my feet, you couldn't tell I  was in there! That's how stiff and huge this was on me!

True colour.

This morning I tried the 00 on in front of a mirror. Still not the slam dunk I was hoping for:

See those sad sleeves? Go to the product page on the site and see the contrast between The fit on the Amazonian model and myself.



Then I styled it with my pumps and the blazer lying on my chairdrobe. It accommodated the bulk of the houndstooth tweed blazer with nary a hiccup. The sleeve length marginally improved. This is the closest I can get to making this thing look good.



Sleeve length improved a bit.

Letting it all swing.

Thoughts?








10 comments:

  1. Thanks for the review. I really wanted to try out the mustard color as well but after your review I don't think it's worth it. I got the Melton boy friend coat in grey in size 0 and love the fit of that so I'm going pass on Thais style. The one in grey in size 00 looks pretty good on you though....

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    1. Hi Susan! Thank you so much for your visit and your comment! It struck me after I'd posted that the description of the colour in real life is ochre. It's ochre, not mustard. And I had been quite curious abt the boyfriend coat too - but I do prefer the collar and cut of this coat, as I think it's more classic.

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  2. I actually like the coat -- maybe it just isn't for petite gals. I think in those bottom photos of you with the heels and the skinny jeans, the coat looks great and so do you. It is meant to be an oversized coat so maybe just not the right cut for petite ladies?? I ordered the Mustard color and am disappointed to hear it's not that vibrant IRL. I am 5'8 and a 10/12 so we'll see how it goes when it arrives. Thanks for the review, though. Very helpful.

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    1. Hi Anngav! Thank you so much for stopping by and dropping me a line! I'm envious of your height and build! I'm sure the coat will look tons better on you! As I said above, the mustard is really more of an ochre- so sad, really. Hope you love yours when you get it. At least the layering possibilities are infinite under the oversized and generous cut.

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  3. That's a beautiful cut. I 'get it.' Too bad that the proportions are just too oversized.

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    1. Thanks for the sympathy, Gigi! I'm regretting returning it, but my bank balance isn't...

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  4. HI! Thank you for writing the review, it's very helpful. May I know how tall you are?

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    1. Hi Hafiona! Thx for your visit. I am 5, 2.5".
      HTH!

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  5. As another petite small framed person (not quite as small as you, though!), here's my two cents: I think it's the double breasted nature of the coat that overwhelms you. Although I think double breasted styles look amazing on the models (all at around 5'10 or taller), on me they look just way too big.

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    1. Hi Deneé! Thank you for your comment & apologies for the long delay in replying! I agree with you, the collar is definitely gigantic. That, plus the sleeves. The collar is not as overwhelming in person, perhaps due to more motion and movement... I did rebuy this , but who knows - I might end up returning or selling it!

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