Next New In and Wrapping up For Winter

A while back I was invited by my friend and colleague Catherine Lux, who owns and blogs on Lux-Life blog to the Next #NewIn event at the Ham Yard Hotel. 

We were asked to take a look at the new A/W collections including gorgeous clothes, accessories, shoes and jewellery.

The Next heels collection for the Christmas Season was seriously covetable and my friend Catherine got a great image of them.

We were able to pick a piece from the collection and my eye was firmly on a gorgeous ‘Borg’ jacket with an amazing cocoon shape and super warm outer layer. So when it finally arrived as the winter snap was starting to come in I was so relieved! I thought I would style it with a classic jeans and boots combination as it’s so wearable and really gives an indication of how you could wear it.

Then with the coat open at the front:

Bear in mind that I am 6 ft so it does come up just under my butt so it’s a great length on me.

I also wanted to capture some of the details of the jacket so here is the collar and pocket details as well as a close up of the texture of the jacket.

The outer sheeps wool effect material is so soft and whilst it may not be suitable for the rain it will keep you so toasty throughout the whole of winter.

I think this jacket is perfect for someone looking to refresh their winter coat collection with a wearable piece and for any girl that gets cold super easily!

Let me know what your favourite winter coat is and what you're coveting.

Phoebe xx

Preferably a Parka

There are a couple of items of clothing that I know I will always wear, classic pieces that you always debate spending that little bit more on to get something special that will last season after season. For those anti fast fashion like me it can be overwhelming trying to find these few key pieces I’m talking about, these are (in no particular order):

• Leather jacket
• Jeans
• Leather boots
• Rucksack
• The perfect go-to dress that you always look and feel good in.
• Parka

None of these items are too unusual apart from perhaps the rucksack, but I’m thinking of doing a post on my love of rucksacks at a later date.

The one I really want to talk about in this post is the Parka, now there are so many different types of jacket and coat styles out there. For me the parka just fits with my lifestyle and style in general. My current Parka is from River Island and was purchased around 5 years ago and has been thrown on hundreds of times. Hence its starting to look rather worn and its colour has faded from the amazing classic parka green to a pale grey-green hue. Not to mention the patched up hood which involved me sewing another fur lining around.

When choosing what type of coat to invest in this winter I couldn’t help but have some of my mothers coat buying mantras creep in. These include phrases like ‘does it have a hood?’ ‘Is it waterproof?’ ‘Does it keep you warm?’ Ironically so often when I was younger I would shun these ideals in my coat buying past. Now so many of the popular styles this season don’t tick two thirds of these points, like the long line cocoon coat in camel and pastel shades, fur coats. Whilst these are pretty classic as well there is something about the parka that is just perfect and I have picked out some of my favourite styles for you.

 ASOS Parka in Nylon with Contrast Lining & Faux Fur Hood – £75

 ASOS Ultimate Parka – £55

Parka London Greta – £235  

River Island Parka With Faux Fur Body – £115

So here are just a few I’m coveting and I particularly have my eye on the Greta Parka London coat. Let me know what coat styles you love and whether you are a parka fan like me.

Phoebe xx