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How to Choose a Winter Coat to Wear with Navy

November 21, 2014
Many of you were interested in a coat to wear with navy clothes, and I had great fun obliging! Some of these coats cost MANY months of rent, but they are amazingly beautiful, and they give us a look and a level of quality to which we can aspire in our more normal coat shopping.
  • The Patterned Coat
Paisley! Subtle, and almost iridescent, This coat doesn’t need much. The hat is divine, the infinity scarf is a subtle melange of the colors in the coat, and the cashmere gloves pick up one of the brighter highlight colors. Feather earrings echo the swirling feeling of the pattern of the coat.
Note: These cashmere gloves are going to show up a few times – they are available in a range of colors, and are a very reasonable price (for cashmere!).

Navy print coat – Stella McCartney, hat – Jacques Vert, teal and navy dip dyed ombre scarf – Vince,  teal cashmere gloves – Halogen, navy sweater – Closed, feather earrings – LeiVanKash, navy corduroy  jeans – Uniqlo, boots – Seychelles

  • The Bright Coat
They don’t come much brighter! I didn’t want to get TOO carried away with this bright color, so a navy beret with a bit of sparkle, and navy gloves, help tone down the exuberance just a bit. The soft scarf will be well tucked into the neckline of the coat, but will show if you’ve left open the top button. And the floral motif of the earrings is an homage to the flowered scarf.

Coat – Fenn Wright Manson, beaded beret – Accessorize, scarf – Yuh Okano, gloves – Isotoner,  navy sweater – Closed, gold flower earrings – Neha, navy corduroy jeans – Uniqlo, boots – Seychelles

  • The Shade or Tone of my Neutral Coat
I took this to mean that I could find a coat in any shade of blue. Paler blues looked kind of odd with the navy outfit, so I chose cobalt. (Turquoise is also an EXCELLENT option…) This is a much more “over the top” outfit – especially the hat with the “cat’s ears”. Trust me, when you start looking for cat ear hats, they’re EVERYWHERE.  I was shocked…  The marbled fabric scarf includes a bunch of shades of blue – it would be a useful addition to any navy wardrobe. And small blue earrings give you a bit of sparkle.

Blue coat – Stella McCartney, cat ears hat – Bernhard Willhelm, scarf – Edition de Luxe, navy suede  gloves – Dents, navy sweater – Closed, earrings – Judith Jack, navy corduroy jeans – Uniqlo,  boots – Seychelles

  • The Textured Coat
If your wardrobe is centered on navy and beige, this is the PERFECT coat for you!  A traditional plaid scarf, and beige gloves finish off your clothes. The earrings? They have the texture of the coat, and the angularity of the pattern of the scarf! No detail is too small, sometimes…

 Tweed coat – Sessun, knit cap – Dear Cashmere, plaid scarf – Y’s, beige cashmere gloves – Halogen,  navy sweater – Closed, earrings – St. John Collection, navy corduroy jeans – Uniqlo, boots – Seychelles

  • The Pastel Coat
You will NOT see a lot of other people sporting about in a coat in this color, trust me! It was pretty amazing to find a hat in the same color! Missoni scarves are always worth checking out if you’re in search of a “Match Maker” item to pull 2 colors together – they are masters of the interesting and unusual color combination. Suede gloves keep things calm and low key.  And THESE earrings? Notice the zigzag pattern in them, which is also the signature knit of your Missoni scarf?

Green coat –  Giorgio Armani, hat – Jo Gordon, scarf – Missoni, navy cashmere gloves – Halogen,  navy sweater – Closed, earrings – Annabelle Lucilla Jewellery, navy corduroy jeans – Uniqlo,  boots – Seychelles

  • The Complementary Neutral Coat
Mixing of warm and cool colors at it’s finest! This caramel (or tobacco, or auburn) coat, hat and gloves look great with navy, and the amazing pleated scarf makes it all look intentional! For these earrings, I found the best priced amber earrings at a shop that raises money for animal rescue! Amazing….

Caramel coat – Diane Von Furstenberg, hat – Lisa Battaglia, scarf – Cathayana, gloves – 8,  navy sweater – Closed, amber stud earrings – The Animal Rescue Site, navy corduroy jeans – Uniqlo,  boots – Seychelles

As always, I’m working with a base of great simplicity. Or great elegance, as I prefer to describe it. A beautiful sweater, corduroy jeans, and navy boots – your options to build upon these simple basics are impossible to count. And that whole “solid dark vertical column” thing is no joke.

Navy sweater – Closed, navy corduroy jeans – Uniqlo, boots – Seychelles

love,

Janice

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Comments

  3. Anonymous says

    Love the pastel coat, it works really well with the navy/beige starting from scratch wardrobe.

    Some of the links don't wrk for me either, also the same thing happened yesterday.

    Alice

    Reply

    • Janice Riggs says

      Heavy sigh… House of Fraser has been having ongoing website issues (great, the weekend before Thanksgiving in the US, eh?) and I've written to them AGAIN about it. I'm so sorry that they're not working; it's driving me crazy…
      warmest regards,
      Janice

      Reply

  8. Swissy says

    Janice, this is so helpful to me! I was just wondering how to pair my beautiful (old) cashmere coat (German) with my basics of dark navy, thinking that it's color (soft bay leaf) might not work. After looking at the pastel green, I thought it just might. And it does! As always, your focus on accessories that pull it all together is inspirational.

    Reply

  10. Anonymous says

    How might one jazz up a black coat if the neutral base is also shades of black from silver to charcoal to black. I could not pass up a beautiful wool coat at the consignment store for $12! Your coat posts are truly inspirational.

    Reply

  11. Anonymous says

    Good morning. Each of the selections is exquisite , right down the smallest details. I think that is what makes elegance. However, of course, my compass takes me to the caramel and navy combo. Could you do a similar post for those of us who live in a dark, wet winter climate like the Pacific Northwest/ We need warm but waterproof coats and hats with great umbrellas and boots.

    Deb from Vancouver

    Reply

  12. Anonymous says

    I love this series on coats. I love what you choose. Very, very inspirational. Though I probably don't need more than two coats, after reading your blogs, I want a dozen at least! You pick the best things. It's such a treat to see what you've come up with each day. Many, many thanks.
    Vancouver Barbara

    Reply

  13. Anonymous says

    gosh, the cobalt blue is beautiful, thank you for the inspiration. Could I check the link to the blue scarf please? it splits into two when I click on it. I tried to go to the website but they have loads of scarves and I couldn't see this one which is so pretty and useful. sorry to be a nuisance!

    xcathy

    Reply

  15. Deborah Montgomery says

    Just beautiful, all of them. I would love to find a pink wool coat that is elegant and not too girly. Hard to find! I'd even go for a nice gray one. Wish I could afford a few I've seen at higher price points.
    Thank you so much for your visit to my blog and your kind words. And for putting me in your sidebar. I've gotten a lot of traffic (for me!) from your site, I really appreciate it!
    Love all the inspiration here. Thank you Janice.

    Reply

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