The Overcoat

This month the theme is High End / High Street, which funnily enough is the same debate I have inside my head every pay day. Do I throw my cash around on Bond Street or Oxford Street? That is the question. I’m boiling the issue down to a handful of key items that you’ll need for AW15 and this week it’s the overcoat. With colder climes looming it’s time to think about your winter coat, if you haven’t bought one yet you need to do it soon before all the good coats sell out. My general advice when it comes to fashion is always to spend not as much as you can but as much as you afford, and that’s because broadly speaking you get what you pay for. With outerwear if you want something waterproof or warm then you’ll need to spend some money.

If you want to try some fleeting trend then you might not want to spend too much because the trend may pass quicker than it’ll take for you to get your money’s worth. I’ve chosen a dark grey textured overcoat this week because that’s both on-trend as well as being a classic item that should see you through a couple of winters at least. The high-street version is from , easily one of my favourite high-street stores, pitted against Club Monaco, the American brand that has recently expanded into the U.K.While you can probably assume that the Club Monaco coat is made from more expensive materials than the Shore Leave coat you need to assess how important that is with this particular garment. Aesthetically speaking it’s unlikely the average person on the street will be able to tell how expensive the materials that make up your coat are by just looking at them, unless you’re wearing leather or suede when it’s more obvious. In this case cut is much more important, with a long coat you need to consider drape and movement. With the Shore Leave by Urban Outfitters coat the soft shoulders give it a distinctly deconstructed look, edgier and with a modern slant that the Club Monaco version doesn’t deliver. So for this week High-Street wins hands down. Looks like I just saved you some money. Go treat yourself, you’ve earned it.




Warren Beckett – @RobotMonsieur
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