At 62, the coat that makes any outfit look expensive
At 62, the coat that makes any outfit look expensive
Six things that make the Elena the perfect coat for autumn, from a woman who is not a fashion writer.
Caroline Richards · Customer · Nottinghamshire · 5 min read
Let me be plain about who is talking. I am Caroline, I am 62, I live in Nottinghamshire, and I have never once sat down to write about a coat in my life. What I had got to, though, was feeling that I always looked a little thrown-together. My warm coats were big padded things that swamped me and made me look twice my width, and my one smart coat was too heavy and dressy for an ordinary day. So on a cold autumn morning I would go out in whatever was warm and just feel frumpy. So this is not a review. It is a woman who found one coat that makes everything look smart, saying why.
The one I am writing about is called the Elena, from Nottingham Boutique, a small boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years now. It is a slim longline coat with a neat stand collar, in a soft marled grey, just the thing for autumn. When the boutique later asked if they could put my letter up for others to read, I said yes, on the condition I could be completely honest in it.
I put it on over my jeans and a jumper that first cold morning, and for once I looked in the mirror and thought I looked pulled-together and rather smart. That was the moment it won me over. Read on.
Here is the little defeat every autumn used to bring. To be warm I had to put on something padded that swamped me and made me look twice my size, and to look smart I had to put on a heavy coat that was far too much for the shops. Warm or smart, never both, and on an ordinary morning I gave up and went out feeling frumpy in whatever kept the cold off.
To be warm I looked swamped, and to look smart I was far too dressed up. This one coat, over jeans, makes me look pulled-together and keeps me warm.
The Elena is the first coat I have owned that makes an ordinary outfit look smart and expensive, and having barely taken mine off since, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
The morning it arrived. Lighter than I expected, and such a soft, lovely marled grey for autumn.
IT PULLS THE WHOLE OUTFIT TOGETHER
This is the heart of it. It is cut like a proper elegant coat, so the moment I put it on, whatever is underneath, jeans and a jumper, anything, suddenly looks like an outfit I have thought about. It pulls the lot together and makes me look like I have made an effort and spent rather more than I did. For an everyday morning, that is exactly the lift I wanted.
The neat stand collar, the button front and the soft marled wool-look. Smart and considered.
It makes jeans and a jumper look like a proper outfit. I feel pulled-together the second I put it on. It looks so expensive.
Christine B., West BridgfordA SLIM LONGLINE CUT THAT SKIMS AND LENGTHENS
Instead of a padded thing that adds width, this is long and slim and cut in a straight line, so it skims down over me rather than swamping me, and covers the hips and the bottom and the bits I would rather cover. It draws a long line down the middle, so it makes me look taller and slimmer. Warm, covered and flattering, all at once, which is rare at my age.
So slimming. It skims straight down and covers everything I want covered, and I look taller in it. I feel lovely wearing it.
Margaret E., SouthwellA SOFT WOOL-LOOK, WARM WITHOUT THE WEIGHT
For all that it looks like a proper wool coat, it is a soft, lightweight marled fabric rather than a heavy one, so it keeps me warm on an autumn day without weighing me down or feeling like a great winter coat. It is warm enough for the season and easy to wear all day, in and out of the shops, without wanting to take it off. Just right for now.
It looks like an expensive wool coat but it is so light to wear. Warm enough for autumn and never heavy. I love it.
Dorothy S., BeestonA NEAT STAND COLLAR THAT KEEPS THE DRAUGHT OFF
It has a neat little stand-up collar that sits softly at the neck, so it keeps the draught off on a cold morning and looks modern and tidy rather than fussy. I can wear it up against the wind or open and relaxed, and either way it frames the neckline nicely. It is the small detail that makes it look considered rather than ordinary.
The hip pocket, the buttons and the slim drape. Smart, warm, and easy to wear.
The stand collar keeps the wind off my neck and looks so neat. Handy pockets too. It is a proper grown-up coat.
Pauline H., ArnoldIT THROWS OVER EVERYTHING, JEANS TO A DRESS
It goes over everything, my jeans and boots for the shops, my trousers for lunch, even a dress if I am going out for dinner, and it lifts the whole lot every time. I can dress it down or dress it up and it always looks right, so it has quietly become the one coat I reach for whatever I am wearing underneath. One coat that does the work of several.
By the door, ready to throw on over anything. The first thing I reach for now.
Over jeans, over a dress, it lifts everything. I reach for it every day now. One coat that goes with my whole wardrobe.
Eileen T., NewarkELEVEN LOVELY COLOURS, AND HONEST SIZES
It comes in eleven lovely colours, my soft marled grey and a camel, a navy, a red, a green and more, so there is a shade to suit everyone. And the sizing runs honestly from a small right up to a 5XL, cut slim to sit well and flatter whatever your figure. I have the grey for now, and I am rather tempted by the camel for the winter as well.
Such a lovely choice of colours, and it goes up to my size and still looks slim and smart. So pleased I have ordered the camel too.
Maureen C., BinghamThe Elena, against warm-but-frumpy and smart-but-heavy
You can have a cupboard full of coats and still feel you always look thrown-together, warm or smart but never both. I know, because I did. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Padded ones swamp you and add width
The smart coat is heavy and too dressy
Warm or smart, never both
Leaves you feeling frumpy
Nothing that lifts an everyday outfit
Slim and longline, it skims and lengthens
A soft wool-look, warm but light
Warm and smart at once
Makes you look pulled-together
Lifts jeans and a jumper to an outfit
About the price
The Elena is £32.95 at the moment. It was £66.00.
I will pass on what the boutique told me, which is that the middle sizes and the popular colours are the first to go, and with the autumn sale on they are going quickly, so once a size or a colour has gone it can be a wait for it to come back. Their words, not mine. What I can tell you from my side is that half price is usually where I start asking what is wrong with a thing, and for a coat this smart and this flattering, I have found nothing wrong with it.
And I do not trust perfect scores, so I read the reviews before I ordered. Just over three hundred of them, sitting at 4.2 stars, which sounded like real women rather than robots, so I read on. The same six things I have just walked you through come up in them, over and over, in other women's words.
Folded away, ready for the next cold autumn morning that wants warm and smart at once.
If you feel warm but frumpy this autumn, and you want one coat that makes everything look smart, this is the coat I would hand you myself, while your size is still there. Stop dithering and go and have a look.
Caroline
ELENA | CLASSIC LONGLINE COAT
- Pulls the whole outfit together, looks expensive
- A slim longline cut that skims and lengthens
- Covers the hips and bottom, flattering
- A soft wool-look, warm without the weight
- Neat stand collar, handy pockets, throws over anything
- Eleven lovely colours, honest sizes S to 5XL
- Free UK delivery and 30 day returns
The autumn sale is on now. Middle sizes and popular colours go first.