“That’s not a coat!”, said Peter…”It has no buttons and it’s paper thin.” “It’s a fall coat, Peter, and it’s amazing.”

Back in the seventies I can remember my mother, an aunt, and my grandmother all wearing camel coats…some of them were actually pure camel hair, a luxury fabric that they were proud to own. As for me, I am quite thrilled with this cashmere version, recently found at Neiman Marcus. It is super soft and layers beautifully over a sweater or a blazer, casually or dressed up.

On this particular work day, an upscale casual look was in order – black cropped trousers, a black sweater, with a sleeveless shirt underneath for the white accents…a super simple understated outfit than can really go anywhere…

The back of this sweater however, is not understated! With bold lace openwork it looks especially nice worn in the evening with no shirt underneath, but this was a work day! 😉

A good ol’ Burberry scarf pulls it all together…

And for a fun shoe choice, ‘snakeskin’ boots by Rag and Bone…top it all off with the camel coat and you have chic, classic, ‘effortless‘ (yeah, right) style!

The Bottom Line:

• This particular coat I consider an investment piece, something I will have forever. (High quality, high price) You can get the same look at a fraction of the cost at places like The Gap, JCrew, Zara.
• The best color combos with camel: camel/black or camel/white. Keep it classic. Keep it simple.
• Camel isn’t necessarily a flattering color to all skin tones; there are, however, many variations of the color that can make a huge difference on how it looks on you. With my olive complexion, this lighter camel brightens the face.
• It won’t be long before it’s time to wear our heaviest winter coats…until we hit the freezing point it’s a nice break to wear a ‘transition’ coat.
• In addition to outerwear layering, add a hat and gloves for added warmth and style. Hat, scarf, gloves, go! 🙂

Happy Friday!