Technically, it isn’t spring until March 20. However, as the fashion editors like to tell us, the key to a successful new season is planning ahead, with precision and focus. Frankly, they can sod off. I always find that sentiment so breathtakingly smug that it makes me feel really quite violent. Precision and focus are exactly the qualities needed when talking to your lawyer, but buying a new cardie? Not so much. Besides, normal people buy new clothes when we need them, and when we see something we like, not because the season has changed, or even necessarily because of trends. Or at least I do. Maybe I’m weird? Don’t answer that.
Anyway, for once, here we are getting massively ahead of ourselves by considering spring coats when we still have a whopping seven days to go until spring is sprung. How’s that for forward planning? Let us first be clear about one thing: a spring coat is a faintly ridiculous name for a faintly ridiculous item of clothing, and one that is definitely a luxury, not a necessity. However, if you can justify buying one, it will bring you great happiness, partly because it’s frivolous and frivolity is always good. Mainly, though, it’s because it marks a pretty, sorbet-coloured end to sombre winter dressing.
It could come in pale lemon, say, and take the form of MaxMara’s mid-thigh, unfortunately named Titta coat (£498; matchesfashion.com). Marni’s collarless concealed-button coat is just gorgeous, and I love it more than I’ve ever loved anything yellow (£1,010; selfridges.com). LK Bennett also does a nice one (pictured, £295; lkbennett.com). I’m not entirely sure whom yellow suits – not me – but it’s everywhere this season, from palest lemon to a particularly vivid chartreuse, which I have stared at a lot in M&S and find frankly incomprehensible. Maybe it speaks your language.
If you’re not convinced by yellow, how about pale pink? Stella McCartney’s blush silk Frankie trench coat is as beautiful and elegant as it is expensive and impractical (£1,835; matchesfashion.com). Ted Baker’s taupe Caila crepe coat channels a similar vibe (£239; selfridges.com), or there’s Autograph’s pale pink wool panelled coat (£110; marksandspencer.com). If you’re a blue girl, Reiss has a pale blue cotton wrap coat (£275; harrods.com).
New brand A Day In A Life is a cumbersome name, and impossible to find on the internet unless you input it exactly as below. If hobbling themselves was their intention, hats off to them for succeeding. I share them with you not because of that, or their whimsical printed silk playsuits – I’m not a whimsical playsuit sort of person – but because of their lovely, softly tailored pale-peach coat with grosgrain trim (£250; adayinalife.london). It comes in black, too, but that’s hopelessly off-message for today’s purposes, so forget I ever mentioned it.