A spotlight on THE COAT DRESS.

...ways I'll wear it.

THE FESTIVE COLLECTION IS HERE!

I’ve been building up to this mini-launch for a long, old while and I must’ve typed 100 times to you all on instagram that the Coat Dress could well be my favourite item EVER.

That feels like a big statement. But it’s the solid truth.

…and so, I came to this article with no moodboard or hard and solid inspo-references, but instead, a whole lot of excitement about and enthusiasm for this brand new piece. Basically, I stood in front of my wardrobe and became increasingly fizzy with the anticipation of all the outfit combinations that were somehow given a new lease of life with the inclusion of this shiny, new Stalf.

By consequence, there’s a distinct lack of thought process to write about in the lead up to the pictorial element of this article, but what I’m lacking in words, I am (hopefully) making up for with styling ideas.

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Let’s start with the basics. The Coat Dress in Crimson Cord screams festive and, if you celebrate, I urge you to wear it in its most pure of formats for Christmas Day: simply pair with a pop of white and your fave footwear.

Flutter Under:

The Coat Dress and the Flutter Blouse were (quite literally) made for each other and need very little else in the way of accessorising. I couldn’t resist a tiny clash and matched my boots to my lippie.

Just a little tweak: this dress is excellent worn with a softly crumpled linen shirt under (one of my fave wardrobe components) and just the crisp cuffs and collar peeping out. I only have a video of me in this one (feel free to mute me when you play it.)

If you want to wear it solo:

This is why the Coat Dress is a firm success in my book- it will take you the whole way along the styling scale, from “throw anything and everything you’ve got at it” right through to “pull it on solo and go” and if you simply want to wear it on its own, with nothing layered, it is marvellous.

Denim and a base layer:

This is how I wore my Coat Dress the first few times whilst I acclimatised. On the third wear, I swapped out the plain jeans for a patterned pair, but otherwise kept the whole approach really simple whilst I eased this brand new piece into my day-to-day. Simply grabbing it as a top layer over basics is the easiest way to get your cost per wear down on this one.

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…and now we get a little more experimental.

Colour Blocking underneath…

I think if you’re a little apprehensive or unsure of how this much bold red would work for you day to day, you can stick to the rules above to start with- simply pair with the most basic of basics. Alternatively, another great tip to begin with, is to colour block beneath and wear as a topper.

A dress layered underneath (long sleeved is great, with a peek of the same colour at the cuffs for a more harmonious look) is perfect. I stuck to white because it’s what I already own. The Gathered Flutter Dress in black or white would have also served me very well here.

Instead of a dress, why not try a co-ord set for colour-continuity? I have a cashmere iteration (pictured below) which is a few years old now and is perfect layered under the Coat Dress. This soft biscuit shade is gorgeous with luscious crimson. Bonus points here for the texture clash- velvet corduroy meeds super soft and fuzzy knit.

Note- colour wise, the red would also be great with black, soft heather grey or a bold, contrasting shade like chartreuse, lilac or a muted blue depending on your preference.

I wore this outfit for a day in London at the weekend and felt super duper!

The cutest mushroom twins!

I don’t own a denim shirt, but if I did, I’d be going full canadian tuxedo under this one for sure- a little denim peeking at the cuffs and the collar turned up, yes please!

I can also see white/cream denim or twill bottoms and a crisp linen shirt working super well layered under, especially if you own a tan suede boot (I don’t unfortunately, but can you picture that combo in your mind’s eye!)

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…Now, flip the colour blocking rule (and all you’ve been told in this article so far) on its head!