At 62, I had a coat for walking and a coat for going out, and never the right one on
At 62, I had a coat for walking and a coat for going out, and never the right one on
Six things the Kellis gets right that my two old coats got wrong, 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 something I wear. For years I have had two coats. A walking coat, which is green, shapeless and older than my grandson. And a good coat, which is long and smart and lives in the wardrobe for occasions. The trouble is that most of my nice days are both. A walk round the reservoir, then lunch at the pub. A wander round the garden centre, then tea in the café. So I was either too scruffy for the lunch or too done up for the walk, and more than once I have changed coats in the car park. This is not a review. It is a woman who found one jacket for both, saying so.
What I found is from Nottingham Boutique, a small boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years now. It is called the Kellis, a lightweight jacket with a neat diamond quilt, a small collar, a button front and pockets. Mine is camel. 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.
A camel quilted jacket. At 62. Read on.
Here is how it happens, and I suspect it happens to most of us. We buy a coat for a job. One for the weather, one for looking nice. And then life refuses to come in separate pieces. The best days are a bit of both, a walk and a lunch, a bit of fresh air and then a sit down somewhere warm, and neither coat was ever made for the whole day.
I had two coats, each perfect for half of my day, and I was wearing the wrong one for the other half every single time.
The Kellis is the first jacket I have owned that is right from the car park to the lunch table, and having worn it most days since it arrived, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
The morning it came. Lighter than I expected, and a lovely soft camel.
It looks smart, without trying
The diamond quilting is a classic for a reason. With the neat little collar and the dark buttons down the front, it looks put together the moment it goes on. It is the sort of jacket you see on the well-dressed women in the café and wonder where they found it. Now I know.
On the wardrobe door. The quilting, the collar and the buttons, all neat.
Such a classic, smart jacket. I get compliments every time I wear it out for lunch.
Anne P., BeestonLight, but it keeps the chill off
It is lightly padded rather than thick, so it keeps the chill off a crisp morning without the bulk of a winter coat. That is the bit that makes it work for both halves of the day. I am comfortable on the walk, and when I sit down for lunch I am not sat there in a great heavy thing.
Straight in for lunch afterwards. Jacket open, and nobody would guess I had been round the reservoir.
Lovely and light but still cosy. Perfect for this time of year when a big coat is too much.
Rosemary T., ArnoldButtoned up, or worn open
When the wind picks up on the walk, it buttons right up. When I get somewhere warm, I undo it and wear it open over whatever I have on, and it looks just as right that way. Buttons are so much easier than a zip that sticks halfway, too.
Looks good done up or open. The buttons are nice and easy to do with cold hands.
Margaret W., HucknallProper pockets
There are two pockets at the hips, set in at a slant so your hands go in naturally. Somewhere for cold hands on the walk, and for my phone and the car keys, so I do not have to carry my handbag round the reservoir.
The quilting up close, and the pocket my hands live in now.
The pockets are a good size. Phone and keys and I am out the door.
Jill S., CarltonIt goes over everything
It sits nicely over a jumper, a blouse or a simple top, and it looks as right with jeans as it does with smart trousers. It is hip length, so it does not swamp me, and it has a gentle shape at the waist so I do not look like a parcel.
Laid out for Saturday. Navy jumper, jeans, the Kellis and my boots.
Goes with jeans or smart trousers. It has become the jacket I reach for without thinking.
Elizabeth M., West BridgfordSix colours, and real sizes
Mine is the camel, which goes with absolutely everything, but it also comes in cream, burgundy, navy, black and a soft sky blue for the spring. Sizes go from UK 8/10 up to UK 18/20. My sister has the navy and we have agreed never to wear them on the same day.
Bought the camel and loved it so much I went back for the navy.
Sandra D., Long EatonThis, against my two old coats
Most of us have a coat for the weather and a coat for best, and spend half our lives in the wrong one. I know, because I did. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
A walking coat too scruffy for lunch
A good coat too smart for a walk
Changing coats in the car park
A big heavy thing to sit in all afternoon
Neither right for the whole day
Smart diamond quilting, collar and buttons
Easy enough for the reservoir path
One jacket from the car park to the table
Lightly padded, without the bulk
Right for the walk and the lunch
About the price
The Kellis is £38.95 at the moment. It was £78.00.
I will pass on what the boutique told me, which is that with the autumn sale on the middle sizes are going first, and once this batch has gone it can be a long 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 after weeks of wearing it, I have not found it.
And I do not trust perfect scores, so I read the reviews before I ordered one for my sister as well. 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.
If your best days are a walk and then a lunch, and you have never once had the right coat on for both, I would start here. Not because there is anything wrong with your coats, but because your days do not come in separate pieces. Go and have a look while your size is still there.
Caroline
KELLIS | Lightweight Quilted Jacket
- Classic diamond quilting, lightly padded
- Keeps the chill off without the bulk
- Button front and a small turn-down collar
- Two side pockets
- Hip length, with a gentle shape
- Six colours, UK 8/10 (S) to UK 18/20 (3XL)
- Free UK delivery and 30 day returns
The autumn sale is on now, half price. The middle sizes are going first.