Vintage Coats

The brisk winds of autumn are kicking up again, and it’s time to pull on colorful tights and cashmere-lined gloves.  Biker jackets, pea coats, trenches and hoodies will keep you snug as a bug in a rug, but if you really want to work the personal style, vintage coats are your ticket.

I have three vintage coats (see pics below) and each one makes a unique style statement.  Each coat was bargain priced and proves that you can get more for less.  Here's how to make the best choices.  Study labels and fabrics. Watch Douglas Sirk movies or films from the French New Wave.  Read about Studio 54 and check out the outrageous fashions of the 1970s.  Scan the wonderous street styles on The Sartorialist!  Then visit Goodwill, the Salvation Army, local resale stores.  Spend $20, look like a million bucks and be warm as toast.

Village Thrift Find

The main reason that I bought this coat was its price--$5.  It's from the now-defunct Village Thrift Store chain where I also found a pleated black wool crepe  Chanel skirt for $5.  Needless to say, this shopper's diligence paid off! 

I’ve worn this coat to parties where the “hip” vibe was stratospheric.  It’s big (great for layering), warm and the fur collar is Cocker Spaniel-cuddly! 

Franklin Simon Evening Coat

This beautiful coat belonged to my mom. When I was a kid, she wore it when she and my dad went to cabarets and parties that lasted into the wee hours of the morning.  If this coat was on her shoulders there was a sweet overnight stay ahead for me at my grandmother’s or great aunt’s house.

It's an adorable cover up for sexy velvet evening skirts, crystal-studded sweaters, rows of silk ruffles and ropes of pearls.  For day, this is a glamorous head turner.  I would never wear this coat without stepping up my game, so I wear it with my current favorite lipstick color, Bobbi Brown’s Burnt Red.

Ercoli Coat

I was introduced to the Ercoli brand in 1996.  Their boutique always gave me a kid-in-a-candy store high with their dizzying spinning wheels of color splashed all over comfortable, wearable clothing.  It was a place where I could find delightful overdyed wallpaper print dresses and jackets that reminded me of Aunt Bert’s sofa print. 

I spotted this coat on a rack while shopping in their South Philadelphia warehouse.  I asked how much, was told $10, and immediately snatched it up.  I can wear it anywhere.  It’s fabulous for day, always gets second looks and tons of compliments.  It’s a lush, jungle green tapestry which lends a springtime air to chilly days.

Top Ten Style Resolutions for 2010

1. Seek out more vintage wear - do a regular resale/vintage shop crawl. Create special, personal looks appropriate for my attitude and aspirations.
   
2. Toss out the cherry red nail polish and vamp with the Elvira-inspired colors. Just bought a knockout burnt midnight color, Sephora by OPI‘s “In The Shadows.”
3. Step away from the department stores and step up to the boutiques.
4. Bust out selected evening pieces to mix with daywear.
5. Continue my thrice weekly trips to 12th Street Gym.
6. Continue to wear things that hug the body that I’ve worked hard for!
7. Wear my vintage coats. At free/inherited, and five or ten dollars, they are small style investments that I should not hoard.
8. No schlub wear while shopping or running errands. You get more respect when you’re not rocking the charwoman look.
9. Wear the gorgeous vintage costume jewelry that I inherited from my mother, grandmother and great aunt. The pieces will look better dangling from my wrists or my throat than they will lying in the jewelry box.
   
10. Forgo hair color and keep the ultra cool Charlie Jones as my barber.