Coats sometimes come with belts, but they tend to be weedy little belts. The kind that are perfect for pulling your dressing gown close with fumbling morning fingers while you make that first cup of tea. But for facing the world, you need something a bit sharper. Relying on the floppy belt that comes with your coat is ultimately unsatisfying: like trying to eat a steak with plastic cutlery.
There is a charming insouciance to the loosely belted, dressing-gown style of coat. But “charming insouciance” works best in kooky contrast to really fabulous hair and spiky heels. When you have a three-days-since-hair-wash ponytail and practical winter shoes, charming insouciance edges perilously close to plain old scruffbag. That’s where the proper-belt-over-your-coat comes in handy: it gives your look the snap you get from a killer heel, but is way more commute-friendly.
As with so many winter dressing issues (see: how many layers is too many?), the problems arise from the climate-control issues of modern living. Cold street, windy train platform, sweaty train, another cold street, chilly air-conditioned office: and that’s all before 9.30am. Arctic fishermen have it easy, frankly. They don’t have to dress for three different climates. They just wrap up in sealskins, or whatever, and yellow waterproofs. But appealing though it might be on the freezing platform, this isn’t office-appropriate get-up.
If you put a stiff leather belt over your coat, the upside is that you will have a waist and look sharp. The downside is that you probably can’t take your belt off on the train – even if your coat has loops, the leather belt that looks good with the coat won’t fit them. So if you take your belt off, you’ll have to put it in your bag, or hold it, either of which looks a bit strip poker. And even if the belt fits the loops, an unbuckled belt hanging loose is not a good look. More flasher than flash, if you get my drift.
You need good deodorant, and a stiff upper lip in the face of overheating. And, once you get to your destination, you need to find somewhere to put the belt where you won’t forget it. This is harder than it sounds. The belt may bring the steak-knife edge to your look, but when it comes to remembering it at home time, the sharpness is down to you.
• Jess wears trench coat, £110, belt, £25, and heels, £75, all topshop.com. Jeans, £29.99, zara.com.
Photograph: David Newby for the Guardian. Styling: Melanie Wilkinson. Hair and makeup: Sharon Ive at Carol Hayes Management.
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