Out of home, into bed
How duvet is your coat?
As Berlin temperatures drop below Heattech-level and everyone is layering up, I think about how often I’m surprised by peoples’ choice of outerwear in winter. That’s when carefully selected outfits go kind of rogue, thrown in the mix with whatever waterproofed textile is at hand, leading from admiration to confusion. A reasonable sacrifice when all you want is not to be freezing. However others literally add to their outfits when they zip it up, either unfased by the cold in their fashionable ensembles or perfectly equipped whatever the condition. As I look at the three coats I’ve been wearing this and past winters on repeat, trying to figure out which one to match against natures’ forces today, I’m wondering: Is putting on your coat a statement as intimate as undressing? Revealing something unexpected but pleasant at its best?
The latter is the sentiment when one night this week, upon putting on her coat, my friend confronts me with a brand that I had written off my radar lately. Ever since Paloma Wool opted for a very pale color palette they lost me as one of their loyal followers; previously refreshing their page for new drops at agonising speed. Anything that slightly resembles dusty rose or misty mud I simply can not pull off, which comes as a bit of a relief in the current situation. But now said friend stuns me in a down coat that I wouldn’t have identified as PW immediately. It’s voluminous with some refined tailoring and closing details and I bet looks great with heels and sneakers, or whatever shoes you want to pair it with. Her overall outfit makes it look particularly nice, way nicer than on the actual lookbook photo. Which I obviously checked, gushing over her styling in my head, otherwise I wouldn’t know. And yes, the color is a very light ashy olive, which puts it far out of my comfort zone and my shopping cart.
How duvet is your coat?
When I listen to her on the publication’s podcast the next day, I admire Financial Times fashion editor Lauren Indvik’s pre-pledge togetherness. As she recalls her absence from new clothes and shoes last year, she mentions that in general she’s mostly buying in May and October. On the contrary my shopping habits know no schedule, but one I’m surely missing every year, is the season of sort your full-body warm wear for the nine months of Berlin winter and sort it now. I never do. Or at least not effectively head to toe. Besides this one time when I purchased a blue Uniqlo down jacket on Vinted, XXL from their men’s collection – a good start in terms of volume and to this day the one item I get asked about most (similar in a silver tone here) – but unfortunately not warm at all.
This past fall, I had a real chance to make it in time. With the arrival of our baby, I finally admit that the sweet spot of temperature resistance lies behind me, notoriously repeating that as a mom I need to be warm, to everyone who does or does not want to hear it. I make it to hip length, as I go for this second hand The North Face jacket (marineblue can be found here), apparently streamlined as a nod to the 2000s, opposed to the slightly puffier and more popular retro 1996-version.
Whichever decade is keeping my upper body warm, I’m painfully reminded of the lack of coverage when I find myself close to the new Byredo store in Mitte one black-ice-clad evening later this week. Besides my favorite scent (I’m loyal since 2012), I spot the alluring new apparel in the backroom, three neatly hung coats in black, purple and green – that not only represent, they are by definition wearable blankets. At a price point of 1490 Euros, their recycled downs sadly miss my shopping list by an inch. I am cold, but not that cold. In the end I resist to even try them on and the coats remain untested as we slowly slide away.
The art of lacking feathers
Walking down the same neighborhood on another day this week, holding on to my belongings braving the sudden snow storm, I suddenly feel affirmed in my refusal to invest in a down coat, as I’m greeted with one particularly great look, similarly lacking feathers: I say single-breasted black wool coat, whose owner is smoking a cigarette outside of what could be an entrance to private housing or his office, nowadays often the same. The coat is obviously beautiful and perfectly oversized, circa the direction of this breathtakingly good coat by Amsterdam’s finest CAES, which thank god seems to be sold out. Never have long sleeves made more sense.
If you like it, we should start a petition to get it back online – or you might wanna take a look at this number by mfpen. Limited because deadstock only and currently on sale, though probably not as Jan-March appropriate. Besides the coat, what hits me unprepared was to be found below: On his white socketed feet I spot a variation of an UGG boot that was a) new to me and b) possibly the only one I could ever fall for:
Soft mules toying around with the passerby’s feelings: Are you a house shoe on the loose (great metaphor for how I feel atm) or made for the outside? My quick google research reveals them as “Pantoffeln” but the product description simply puts them as slippers, which allows for a broader walking distance than sofa to fridge (as this post is written, the german UGG website is currently unavailable due to too many requests, which proves my point that in Germany, winter comes as a shock responsible for purchase peaks). Funnily enough, one category of this shoe type identifies as Tasman Regenerate Clog as much as one year ago and comes with what UGG claims an “iconic silhouette, new responsible materials […] the next step in our journey towards a more sustainable future.” What are the odds?? I’m not sure if these efforts apply to the black felt-tip version in front of me, but besides the value chain, focusing on its form alone, this shoe offers the right amount of risky business for most of us already: Imagine the struggle to clean off the dirt when you decide to wear them in and out. The attitude of this look however is confident yet effortless – I can’t be bothered to tie laces, or simply, my active lifestyle does not allow for a change of gears, I just walk out of the door when I’m pleased to. I’m immediately struck with jealousy.
House shoe on the loose
The next day, still thinking about those slip-ons, I tap back into Berlin’s fashion industry for a minute. Namely into one of the few remaining trade shows, wearing the most resembling copy to the floor sweeping coat I had just met. This dark blue vintage Lanvin beauty is the OG boyfriend coat, as my mother-in-law secured it from a past lover decades ago, saving it for her future son, only for it to be taken away by his fiancé. This one by A KIND OF GUISE seems to be worth the inheritance, too.
Arriving at the SEEK hangar where I’m about to listen to the newly released fashion purpose report, I struggle to make sense of the people around me and try to spot the promised croissants that come with the keynote (I swear it said brunch somewhere in the invitation). Instead of finding baked goods, I bump into a familiar PR-face, well-known for her profound knitting skills – and big fashion clients, among which I falsely suspect UGG. The following dialogue takes place as I obliviously walk into her fit check video, and goes something like this:
Me: “Oh hi, what a lovely cardigan! Did you knit this yourself?”
Her: “Aw no, that’s (INSERT BRAND), but it has these funny sleeves that I wanted to show in my video” (points to her phone)
Me: “Oh no, I walked into your instagram!!” (both laughing, me desperately trying to get to the other side of the phone, meanwhile walking through the picture again)
Her: (continues to describe cardigan): “(…), but anyway, it’s probably not for you as you’re only buying 5 things this year.”
Me: (both surprised and flattered that she knows about TIDBTW): “Yes, and actually I thought of you just the other day, because I saw some UGGs that almost made it to my list! As you represent them I… ”
Her: “Some Aarke what? Aarke, that’s run by (INSERT ANOTHER BERLIN PR COLLEAGUE)”
Me: “No, not Aarke, U-G-G-S!”
Her: “Ah some UGGs!
Me: “Yes, you know, these sort of cut-off, felt-tip, cute house shoesy…”
Her: “Ah yes… No, UGG works with (INSERT ANOTHER BERLIN PR COLLEAGUE) - but I know which ones, I have a pair!”
Argh. Slightly startled, I push forward to the speakers’ podium, partly wishing I was still asleep. Let’s just say I’m not expecting an UGG (or any) PR gifting coming my way soon.
Things I didn’t buy: 5
PALOMA WOOL Oversized long recycled down jacket Etherea 340,00 €
BYREDO wearable blanket 1490,00 €
CAES 0067 robe coat wool was 1050,00 €, currently sold out
mfpen Margin Coat black deadstock wool cavalry twill was 704,00 €, now 333,00 €
UGG Tasman slippers in black here at 124,95 €