Fashion craves newness, which is a problem when winter shows no sign of shoving off. I’m happy in polo necks and never fall out of love with ankle boots, but I’m swiftly running out of patience with coats. This problem is partly caused by the madness that is August in the modern fashion industry, when the shops are full of coats months before we need them. If we could push back the start of coat season this year until October, it might not feel like it has quite so thoroughly outstayed its welcome.
But back to the here and now. What you don’t want to do at this stage is buy another coat. You’ll get too little wear out of it to justify its purchase, but too much for it to feel new and exciting next autumn. More cheering to think about a new jacket. Because, while you will have to take a coat when you leave the house for the day for ages, there will be weekend days in the nearish future when the sun comes out, it’s mild, and you can go on a local errand without a proper coat, secure in the knowledge that you won’t get caught out shivering at a bus stop after dark.
If you’re buying a new jacket at this stage in the game, you may as well buy one that feels like a fashionable step forward. For instance, a naval jacket. I suggest this with the caveat that I am always a bit queasy about “military” fashion, because co-opting the spirit of aggression in the cause of having people listen to you in meetings strikes me as dubious. But the aesthetic of the naval jacket is sufficiently far removed from the image of modern warfare to have become neutralised. Gold buttons, stiff shoulders and navy tailoring suggest an abstracted sense of adventure and purpose. The abbreviated shape looks more modern with trousers than a hip-length blazer, and adds briskness worn over dresses. What’s more, you know that flimsy coat you never wore because you failed to notice in the changing room that it isn’t actually warm? This jacket makes that coat wearable. Plus, when spring comes, you’ll be ahead of the game. Although that was how we got in this pickle in the first place. Go figure.
• Jess wears jacket, £59.99, zara.com. Shirt, £102, by J Crew, from net-a-porter.com. Jeans, £260, by Frame, from net-a-porter.com. Heels, £90, dunelondon.com.
Styling: Melanie Wilkinson. Hair and makeup: Laurence Close at Carol Hayes Management.
