Bubbling under…Cocktail coats
Ok, I made this up simply because I like the way it sounds but a cocktail coat if it existed, would be a dramatic evening coat to wear over your cocktail dress. Because I don’t know about you but it really bugs me when people get all zhuzhed up for a night out, putting hours of thought into their spectacular outfit, shoes and make-up and then, uh oh, out comes the old bog standard jacket. I mean, why? Surely it makes more sense to invest in a show-stopping cocktail coat that will turn heads the minute you make your entrance than yet another pair of patent party plat-heels and tacky clutch?
My own cocktail coat is a black fifties-style brocade one with bracelet sleeves from Portobello Arcade a good twelve years ago. It was sold to me by a young designer friend for £60 with the words ‘I only made two and someone from Chritian Lacroix has the other one.’ (A bit like my favourite quote from Deserately Seeking Susan where Madonna buys the green jacket with the pyramid which according to the salesman ‘used to belong to Jimi Hendrix’ – probably not true but sounds good all the same.) Cocktail coats are plentiful at Burberry, Bill Blass and Lacroix (!) but thin on the ground on the high street, however come October I’m sure they’ll be everywhere so start thinking about yours now.
UPDATE: Pfft, the new Elle has a whole two-pager on cocktail coats and I was so sure I’d made that up!
Pic: 3.1 Phillip Lim coat, Style.com
31 August, 2008 @ 6:05 pm
Oh how I agree – my cocktail coat (perfect description) is a gold
50s number I found in the sale of Wallis of all palces over 5 years ago. I got a dressmaker to alter the fit and it is a winner. I love a going out coat, I have a few….
1 September, 2008 @ 3:00 am
Now I need a cocktail coat! Shit! I thought I was happy in the coat department, but no, I am not.
Still, it’s cool of you to come up with a new category!
1 September, 2008 @ 6:21 am
Hmm what a rather acute observation but one that definately makes sense! Excuse me while i pant my way across town searching for a similar one :)
1 September, 2008 @ 1:25 pm
I love the idea of a cocktail coat…except it puts me in the mood for cocktails….and shopping. Lethal combination :)
1 September, 2008 @ 2:40 pm
I so agree. And I think vintage is a great option for cocktail coats. Mine is a bit heavy, but works well for MN: Persian lamb with a mink collar! Maybe I need to invest in one for Fall/Spring weather, though …
1 September, 2008 @ 3:37 pm
you are so right!
now i need to think about my options.
2 September, 2008 @ 12:51 am
I love your dreamy idea of a cocktail coat. One of my stickiest memories about London was seeing really sharply-suited guys milling about the streets on their way to work . . . in anoraks. :P
2 September, 2008 @ 6:14 pm
Righto, must addd 'cocktail coat' to my never-ending A/W wishlist.
Your own find sounds fabulous. I remember seeing a brocade coat in H&M last year but let it go. I think the fabric was fraying a bit and I don't think it would have lasted the distance.
5 September, 2008 @ 12:06 pm
I used to have a great pink satin Tocca cocktail coat with purple embroidery! Where did it go?! Probably I sold it at Portobello at a time of need…..grrrr!
So that’s how you spell zhuzhed! I use the word all the time but hesitate to type it even when it’s the only word that will do for the sentence! Thanks!