Stamp of Approval: the trench – classic with a twist.

When I was about 11 years old, my godmother gave me an Armani trench coat. I wasn’t super-excited about it, because hello!? it was the late 80s and anything in the beige color family wasn’t really in a tween’s/teen’s fashion vocabulary. But I wore it, because it went with everything, and while nobody in my school had one, John Cusack did, and that was good enough for me

90′s fashion was a mishmash of styles and bits and pieces from various decades – it was a lot of fun! Dandy (which is in again!) ruffled blouses, to preppy-schoolgirl tartan minis, 70′s inspired details… it was never boring, always changing, and there was so much space to be creative with such a mix of different trends. Trench coats, on the other hand, in my mind fell in with the “classic” way of dressing, with suits and sensible pumps, and button-down white shirts. It made me yawn just thinking about it.

Fast forward to the past few years, living in Switzerland, where it rains a lot, then in New York, where layering becomes an art, especially in Spring and Fall, and then back to Switzerland, where it still rains a lot, dammit – pretty much year-round. Le’s also consider the new classic: suits are better cut, more flattering, and more colors have entered the realm of “acceptable to wear to work”. Not to mention I have been inspired by New Yorkers wearing trench coats in all kinds of colors and over virtually everything.

And that’s when I set out to find the trench for me. It had to be affordable, it had to be flattering (no square shoulders and straight cut for this curvy gal, thanks!) and it had to have something about it. Something fun, something interesting. In other words, not a trench that said “my life is as beige as this coat”.

And now I found it. I found it, people! And I bought it. And I wore it. And I LOVE it!

The trench is made by Miss Sixty, a brand that this far had made no appearance whatsoever in my closet, mostly because until a few years ago a lot of their clothes semed to be geared towards teeny bops, and as such they came in sizes that left no space for… well, most of me. But now I have new respect for this brand, because they added XL to their repertoire, and they created what’s without a doubt my favorite coat in several years.

The trench has a flared skirt, which is not only more flattering and more feminine, but definitely more fun! Its lines don’t call to mind the word stiff and serious, do they?

But also, my friends, the trench has studs. Studs, people! How could I not love it?

The trench is available in XS-XL, and it comes in black, khaki and ivory. I chose khaki because it seemed to me like the best year-round neutral, but I do love the black one for late fall and warmer winter days. The trench retails for $225, except on Bluefly, where it’s sold for $135 (and guess where I got mine? ).  You can also find it on Amazon.com (black and khaki, XS-L), on Overstock.com (black in S-L, khaki in L only) and on SmartBargains (khaki, L only) for less than half the retail price!!

SO, what do you think? Are you a fan of trench coats? Why or why not? Do you have one? What do you wear it with?

Tagged as: trench