Trench coat shopping

Befitting the weather in London today (rain and more rain) I’m lusting after a proper mac. It’s not that I don’t own one, I just down’t have one in the right colour. Due to some terrible lack of foresight I threw away my beige Michael Kors trench coat in The Big Move. I think I thought it had had its day. At least it went to a charity shop so I hope some lucky girl somewhere is wearing it right now. I won’t go into how lovely it was, it’s too upsetting.

So basically, I want a replacement for that mac. I don’t want exactly the same, as one of the reasons I didn’t like the coat (then) was that it had no collar. It was very sporty, though, and a little military, so on trend although I’d had it for over five years. But like most of the items I’ve ever bought in New York, it lasted and looked good year after year. Oops, I said I wasn’t going to go on about it, didn’t I?

Ok, so the choices for a replacement I’ve seen so far are:

1. Burberry

Burberry cotton blend trench coat £650 at Net-a-Porter

There’s also a shorter, waterproof version at £695 and a two-in-one trench which you can wear as long coat or as a cropped jacket.

Two-in-one twill trench Burberry £850

I really, really want one of these coats, but they are so very expensive. On the other hand, items that I’ve fallen head over heels for and that have at the time seemed to cost the earth are the items I’ve generally worn the longest. Pieces like the red Burberry mac which I already own and which I’m going to be wearing later today, has been in my wardrobe for longer than I like to think. Also the two-in-one would actually give me two coats, both of which I’d use. Ahem.

My red Burberry trench which is at least 6 years old

2. Uniqlo. The new Jill Sander collection has arrived at this Japanese store and they stock three different trench coats, all of which I’d be quite happy with. Although the +J collection prices are fairly hefty at a penny short of £200.00 (don’t you just hate when stores do the 99 thing? As if we consumers were stupid enough not to understand that £9.99 is really £10). As a comparison, this store, which prides itself on good quality at reasonable prices has another trench coat for £69.99 (ie £70).

I’ve been wearing a dark grey military coat I bought from the previous winter +J collection for two winters now and it’s still going strong. I’d show you pictures of the new collection but this store is very protective about its images. Here’s a link though.

3. Isabella Oliver.

Isabella Oliver 365 The Classic Trench at £239

I love this online store. Started as a maternity wear retailer, it now stocks every day classic pieces as well as easy to wear jersey skirts and dresses. The trench as far as I can see only has one fault – there’s no buckle, just a tie-on belt. But with a code from the wonderful fashion blogger LibertyLondonGirl there’s 15% off the collection which would make this coat nearly the same price as the Uniqlo +J one. And less than a third (or a quarter for the two-in-one) of the Burberry one.

Decisions, decisions…