brrr.. it's cold in here..

there must me some Clovers in the atmosphere!

Who else loves Bring It On? Missy's the poo, so take a big whiff.

Anyhoo, I'm starting to look for a new winter coat again. A while back, I scored this fun See by Chloe plaid coat at the Rack. It was only $60 (from $800+). I have no idea why it was marked down so much but it was in pristine condition so I think I was rather lucky!

But if you hadn't noticed, it's a red plaid, lumberjack coat. Not exactly something I can wear regularly. No, I'm looking for a nice black wool coat. Something I can pretty much wear all winter.

Last year, I settled on this grey Soia Kyo coat. I got a lot of wear out of it (and a lot of compliments!) but I still really want to find a good black coat.

There are two that I've been eyeing at J. Crew though I'm leaning more towards the "ribbon" one, stylewise. I haven't seen it in person yet so I don't know for sure if it's the one and it's not available until October.

I'm very particular about the lengths of my coats. I can't stand long coats. Midthigh is about as long as I can go. I just want it to be long enough to cover whatever top I'm wearing underneath, but I don't want it so long that wearing heels is a must.

The second coat that I'm considering is this ruffle one. I actually tried this one on in the store and really loved the fit. The wool is also extremely soft, which isn't always the case at J. Crew.

The reason I'm leaning towards the ribbon one is because it seems just a tad longer than the ruffle one, which just went past my tush, and it looks just a little more tailored. And somehow the ruffles aren't quite as ruffly as I would like. Did that even make sense? I think that if the ruffles were fuller, then I'd probably like it more.

What do you think? I have a little over a month before the ribbon coat is available so I'm not in a hurry. Maybe I'll be lucky and get a couple gift cards for my upcoming bday!

No pressure. *wink*

of course

Of course as soon as I say I may have found the perfect winter coat, I go and find another one to adore that costs nearly twice as much..

I mean this Manoush coat from Anthropologie isn't crazy expensive, but still. It's just Murphy's Shopping Law that I always like the more expensive one.

I suppose the Soia Kyo coat is more of an every day coat, whereas this one is a little dressier. I just love the ruffles. Besides, I've been totally in love with everything Manoush ever since Mango and I shopped at the boutique in Le Marais in Paris.

I love the bracelet sleeves. And it's not too long. It's a good 4-5 inches above my knees. Anything longer and I wouldn't even consider it.

What's a girl to do? It would be sooooo bad if I had both. At the very least, one of them should be black!

soia joy

I think I found my coat. I'd just about given up on finding a new winter coat that fit all of my qualifications - to the point where I was even upped my price point to $400-500!

That's crazy talk!

Luckily, I picked up a Soia Kyo coat at the Rack for under $200, similar to the one pictured. The buttons and the back are slightly different.

I really like the collar and how it can be worn up with a strap to keep the cold out.

One of the reasons I've been having such a hard time finding a coat is that I hate long coats. I like them to hit about mid-thigh - anything longer and I won't wear it! If it's too short though, then my tops stick out and while that's cute and stylish sometimes, it doesn't always work!

Anyway, I have 30 days to find something better.